


Xiaolin Showdown: The Ultimate Challenge

by FireGirl125



Series: Xiaolin Showdown [1]
Category: Xiaolin Showdown (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-06-04 21:49:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 47,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6676624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireGirl125/pseuds/FireGirl125
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an attempt to take over the world using the Heylin Comet, Chase Young, Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean try to find Raimundo's weakness which doesn't only put him in danger, but Kimiko as well. With the world threatening to cease to exist, the Xiaolin Monks must stop the Heylin while Raimundo and Kimiko battle their feelings for one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Finding a Warrior's Weakness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an effort to rid the Xiaolin Monks, Chase Young decides to do research on the recently appointed Shoku Warrior, Raimundo--including what makes him weak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I published this story on May 24, 2010 on Fanfiction.net and I recently got the writing bug for this series again after watching the show recently. As of April 2016, I'm currently working on the sequel to this story--I'm five chapters in, currently working on Chapter 6. But with the sixth anniversary of the story coming up, I decided to post the first story here--with multiple re-writes and revisions--just so people can read what comes before that. 
> 
> So here you go, the revised version of "Xiaolin Showdown: The Ultimate Challenge". Enjoy!
> 
> (Note: As of May 2016, the story is still being edited).

The whole world fell silent as Jack Spicer, the self-proclaimed evil boy genius, used his helibot to transport himself through the clear night sky. Jack was in need of assistance to take down the only force that was stopping him from acquiring the mystical Shen Gong Wu, and even though Jack didn't know what the outcome of this conversation was going to be, the worst thing anyone could tell him was no. As Jack flew into the cave-like palace, he looked inside to see if there was anybody home.

"Hello?" Jack called out.

There was no answer, so Jack decided to take that as an invitation to enter the cave. But before Jack could go much further, he was grabbed at his cape by none other than a jungle cat. Jack took a step back before noticing that they were all coming towards him, and when he tried to leave the cave, Chase Young was in front of him, embarking in an evil stare down.

"Who invited the nitwit?" Chase Young glanced at the Jungle Cats as they all shook their heads. Jack gave Chase Young a frightened look, almost as if he was expecting Chase Young to order his jungle cats to obliterate him. However, he surprised Jack by turning around and motioning for the evil boy genius to follow. "Come in, Spicer." Jack got away from the jungle cats as soon as he could, his sights setting on the ancient serpent. Chase Young led Jack towards his study and pointed to the nearby seat as if to silently instruct the young teenager to sit down. As soon as Jack sat down, he twiddled his thumbs and decided to take notice of how Chase Young decorated the place. Chase Young noticed Jack's nonchalance, and was easily becoming annoyed by the evil boy genius's curiosity. "What was so important that you had to try to break into my lair, insect?"

"I came to you for help in order to take down the Xiaolin monks once and for all." Jack cleared his throat while Chase Young motioned for Jack to continue. "Those stupid monks are always winning the Shen Gong Wu, and it's getting on my last nerve! I'm supposed to be evil! How can I be evil if those monks won't let me beat them?" At Jack's rant, Chase Young's serious glance turned into a small smile.

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Not the Shen Gong Wu part as I have no use for those trinkets, but I was thinking of finding a way to destroy those monks."  Jack gave Chase Young an inquisitive look before Chase Young got up, walking over to a scale model of what he was planning. "Come Spicer, but keep your mitts of my stuff." Jack followed quietly and stared at the scale model. It had something to do with a Heylin Comet which would make Chase Young the strongest evil villain out of all the Heylin. "The Heylin Comet will enhance my powers that I gained from Hannibal Roy Bean 1500-years-ago. But with those Xiaolin monks in the way, they're going to attempt to ruin my plans. All we need to do is to figure out what their weakness is, so I can stall them while the comet comes." Chase Young smiled. Jack had ruined the moment by giving Chase Young a look of confusion.

"Their weakness?" Jack asked. Chase Young's smile quickly vanished before pacing back and forth.

"Yes Jack, every warrior has a weakness." Chase Young gave Jack a look which read 'understand or I will make you understand.' Jack finally got the message before Chase Young continued "I had my weakness once."

"What was it?" Jack asked.

"It was to be the most powerful in the world, and look at me now. I am more powerful than the average warrior." Chase Young's smile came back before walking to a pot. "Pass me the dragon's feet." Chase Young smiled. Jack crouched and walked forward, grabbing the dragon's feet and giving it to Chase. While Chase poured it in the bowl the 2 evil ones realized that the soup was bubbling a little more than usual. As a spark of lightning shot out of the pot and the meal splattered all over the walls, leaving the Jungle Cats the job of cleaning up the mess.

"I don't want to state the obvious but something tells me someone messed with your stuff." Jack stated the obvious. Chase was too cross with whoever meddled with his stuff to yell at Jack, but he did realize there was someone _else_ here. He just didn't know where.

"But whom..." Chase's train of thought was interrupted by a small shadow at the front door. Jack screamed and jumped into Chase Young's arms but Chase Young gave a grin as to who was the mastermind behind this trick. "Hannibal Roy Bean." was all Chase Young said before Hannibal entered the cave-like palace. Jack screamed once again before Chase Young dropped Jack on the floor, the self proclaimed genius scampering up as quickly as he was dropped.

"Yes, I'm Hannibal, but we don't need introductions now do we, Chase Young?" Hannibal asked. Jack and Chase Young gave each other a look before giving Hannibal a 'your not welcome here' look.

""What are you doing here?" Jack asked, while whining.

"Jack, evil doers do not whine." Chase Young gave Jack a cross look. Jack stayed quiet before Chase Young walked toward Hannibal and clenched his fist. "I suggest you leave immediately." Hannibal jumped on the edge of the pot and shook his small head back and forth, almost as if he was offering to be of assistance.

"Are you trying to stop the Xiaolin monks, Jack?" Hannibal changed the subject almost immediately before Jack nodded.

"Yeah, why?" Jack wondered. Chase Young sighed and pushed Jack away.

"Let me do the talking you simpleton." Chase Young then saw Hannibal jumping from a pot to the bookshelf in a single leap.

""If your trying to get to the monks, you have to get to their leader. The leader is the one that controls that team and by having the leader preoccupied, the rest of the team will have a weak spot. All right Jack, time for a pop quiz...the leader of the Xiaolin monks is...?" Hannibal motioned Jack to answer the question.

"Omi?" Jack asked. Omi did seem like the one who gave all the order for the other monks, but Hannibal Bean shook his head.

"He's annoying, but think again Jack." Hannibal rolled his eyes. Jack kept thinking which made Chase Young lose his patience.

"Does it have to do with the newly promoted one?" Chase Young asked. He had remembered from the last fight he had with the monks that one of them was promoted to Team Leader or Shoku Warrior.

"Yep. All right Jack, let's try another quiz. The Shoku Warrior of the Xiaolin monks is...?" Hannibal then gave Jack the OK to answer the question. As if the question was rocket science, Jack's eyes bulged open and he jumped up and down with glee.

"It's Raimundo!" Jack smiled. Hannibal chortled at Jack's response to his question, which caused Jack to innocently blink.

"The dumb one got it right. Anyway, there has to be something that is near and dear to his heart. Something that will make him weak at the knees and allow us the perfect time to strike." Jack got stuck after Hannibal said near and dear to his heart, so Hannibal gave Jack a clue. "Listen, I heard there was a Shen Gong Wu that unveiled itself and the monks are going to need a villain to fight them. Are you up for the challenge, Jack?"

"Oh yeah, baby!" Jack sounded pumped up. Hannibal saw Chase Young look towards him with reluctance, but if they wanted the plan to work, they knew that they had to put their differences aside just for this mission.

"Chase?" Hannibal wondered. "Are you in?" After a moment of consideration, Chase Young nodded his head and traversed his arms.

"I could use some entertainment. All right then." Chase Young said. All 3 villains started a maniacal laugh, with hopes of ending the Xiaolin monks once and for all.


	2. Odd Behavior for Raimundo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omi becomes confused when Raimundo shows subtle yet romantic gestures towards Kimiko, but Raimundo's newfound behavior is quite clear to Clay.

The Xiaolin Temple was usually a place of serenity for the Xiaolin monks, except in the Shen Gong Wu vault, Dojo Kanocho Cho was complaining to Master Fung about the many Shen Gong Wu the monks collected. Master Fung was lucky to have patience cause at the rate Dojo was going, he was about to lose it.

"Are you  _sure_ you did inventory Master Fung?" Dojo asked for the fortieth time. Dojo wanted to make sure that all of the Shen Gong Wu were accounted for, and that the Heylin didn't sneak in and steal it with one of their underhand tricks.

"Yes Dojo." Master Fung's voice was stern, but Dojo ignored the terseness of Master Fung's voice. Dojo was still going through all the drawers in the Shen Gong Wu vault, making sure that each Shen Gong Wu was in its designated area.

"So how many do we have so far?" Dojo inquired.

"73." Master Fung swiftly replied, trying not to get angered by Dojo's constant questions.

"Which ones don't we have?" Dojo asked.

"The Monkey Staff and the Hodoku Mouse. Dojo, I understand that it is your duty to account for all the Shen Gong Wu, but we have been here for three hours. May we please leave the vault so we can keep an eye on our Xiaolin warriors?" Master Fung asked impatiently.

"All right. But don't go crying to me when a Shen Gong Wu gets stolen." Dojo relented and left the Shen Gong Wu vault with Master Fung. As they walked through the corridors, they noticed Raimundo Pedrosa, Clay Bailey and Omi were spending one of the few days off improving their battling skills. Dojo couldn't help but watch silently and thought about how much they had grown; they were simply monks in training and were now 3 Wudai Warriors and a Shoku Warrior. Something like that made Dojo beam with pride, and he also admitted he had a soft spot for the monks. "They look really good. Although, if I were Omi I'd be careful with Raimundo. Raimundo wasn't made team leader by playing fair, now was he?" Dojo mentioned. Master Fung nodded and led Dojo to the other side of the temple, leaving the boys to train.

* * *

 

Omi, Raimundo and Clay were busy trying to improve their agility. While Omi felt he didn't need to practice his agility, Raimundo challenged him anyway. Clay figured it was a way for Raimundo to teach Omi about not underestimating their opponent, which Omi had a habit of doing. So far, Omi was being as cocky as ever, and Raimundo was thinking of the multiple ways to kick Omi's butt. Clay happened to be on the sidelines, silently rooting for Raimundo to get the better of Omi.

"You are going up Raimundo!" Omi yelled, Raimundo rolling his eyes at Omi's mixed slang.

" _Down_. You are going down." Raimundo corrected. Omi was still confused which left Raimundo with the perfect time to strike. Raimundo jumped up and kicked Omi far across the yard, which prompted Omi to land next to Clay.

"Hey little buddy." Clay teasingly greeted.

"Hello Clay." Omi said while in pain. "Would you mind helping me up?" Clay obliged and helped Omi to his feet while Raimundo used his wind to jump all the way across the yard. Raimundo couldn't help but laugh at Omi, but he was glad he was able to teach Omi a thing or two about letting his ego get in the way. 

"Nice one, Omi. Want to go again?" Raimundo asked, but Omi's eyes widened in fear.

"No, thank you Raimundo. I shall save our battle for another day." Omi quickly commented. Clay couldn't help but laugh at Omi, but he was glad that he finally passed the test of humility--for today at least.

"So, what was all this for?" Clay wondered, motioning at Raimundo and Omi and their recent 'fight'.

"Oh, I was just showing Omi the ropes of humility." Raimundo smiled. However, Omi didn't understand what Raimundo meant.

"But there were no ropes for you to show me, Raimundo. Unless they were hiding!" Raimundo's smile automatically turned into a frown, and he was beginning to feel that Omi was never going to learn slang. As Omi and Raimundo continued their banter, Clay looked around and noticed one of their own was missing.

"Hey, not to interrupt your square dance, but where's Kimiko?" Clay wondered. When Clay mentioned Kimiko's name, Raimundo stopped his arguing with Omi and heart fluttered. _Kimiko_. The first time Raimundo lay eyes on her, he thought she was beautiful. But he also learned Kimiko had quite the temper, hence her being the Dragon of Fire. The more time they spent together, the closer they got, and Raimundo wasn't kidding when he said Kimiko was his favorite monk. She really was. He just sometimes wished he could work the nerve to tell her how he felt, but he knew there was a slight possibility she wouldn't feel the same way. 

"Last time I noticed, she was meditating." Omi responded to Clay's question. After Omi spoke, Raimundo dashed to the inside of the temple, and Omi and Clay couldn't help but chuckle.

"When do you think he's going to tell her?" Clay pondered, Omi appearing muddled at Clay's question.

"Tell her what exactly?" Omi asked. Clay knew Omi wasn't going to understand relationships, but he decided to give it a try anyway.

"That Rai likes Kimiko." Clay said.

"But Raimundo likes us all." Omi didn't seem to understand. "Is Kimiko _really_ his favorite friend? And if so, why?"

"Here, let me show you." Clay motioned for Omi to follow him, just so they could see what Raimundo was up to.

* * *

 

Raimundo headed inside the temple and wasn't surprised he found Kimiko meditating on the floor. He thought she was absolutely breathtaking, but he snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed she was still in her trance. Kimiko had a feeling someone was there, and it prompted her to open her eyes and stare at the Dragon of Wind with a smile. She gave him a warm smile and winked, and if she could admit it, she was glad that it had been him that interrupted her meditation session.

"Hey, Rai." Kimiko smiled at him. "How was training with Omi and Clay?"

"Oh, it was good. I kicked Omi's butt after he said that he could beat any opponent that came his way. Someone's gotta teach the cheese ball a lesson in humility." Raimundo tried to sound like he wasn't bragging, but Kimiko simply let out a giggle.

"Nice!" Kimiko responded. "If anyone was to teach Omi a lesson, I'm glad it was you. After all, you are the leader." Raimundo blushed at Kimiko's comment and decided to change the subject, walking up to her and crossing his arms with interest.

"So, what were you doing in here while I was flexing my muscles?" Raimundo asked although he already knew the answer to her question. It didn't hurt to try to strike up a conversation with her.

"Uh-oh, someone's getting a bigger ego than Omi." Kimiko teased. "If you must know, Mr. Universe, I'm meditating. It allows me to clear my thoughts...and Master Fung thinks it's a good idea to keep my fiery temper in check." She gave him a quick smile before getting back to her meditating.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Raimundo wondered. Kimiko's eyes opened and she looked into his emerald eyes. At first, she was expecting it to be a joke since Raimundo was a trickster, but she was surprised that he was serious. Kimiko gave him a smile that lighted his heart as she moved over.

"Sure, come on." Kimiko openly invited Raimundo to sit next to her. "I must say, I feel kind of special that you want to meditate with me instead of fighting with the boys. It's actually kind of sweet of you to give everyone a little one-on-one time." Raimundo felt his cheeks turn red as he let out a light laugh.

"Well, what can I say?" Raimundo nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "I want my team to gel together and I realized I didn't spend nearly enough time with you."

"Aw, stop it." Kimiko blushed lightly as Raimundo placed a hand on her shoulder. The two of them gave each other a quick smile before closing their eyes, but what they didn't know was their subtle romantic encounter was intruded by Omi and Clay. Clay was trying to show Omi what he had meant by Raimundo liking Kimiko, but Omi thought Raimundo's attitude towards Kimiko was...different. He always used to tease her to get her attention, but this wasn't the Raimundo Omi knew. He was being... _nice_. 

"Raimundo has never acted this way before. It is most concerning." Omi said, looking over at Clay.

"What do you mean partner?" Clay wondered.

"Raimundo always plays tricks on Kimiko. Why is he being so nice?" Omi responded. 

"Because he likes her, little buddy. The tricks were one way to get her to notice him, but I reckon the tricks weren't working. So now he's being nice and it's getting her attention." Clay shrugged his shoulders. 

"Why so much work for Kimiko to pay attention to Raimundo?" Omi asked.

"He's probably a little shy about his feelings, so he's not going to be obvious. But he's still hoping Kimiko gets the hint." Clay continued to explain. However, Omi _still_ didn't seem to understand.

"Oh, females are most complicated." Omi muttered. Before Clay could continue explaining that Raimundo was clearly smitten, Dojo came into the room and was shaking up and down uncontrollably. Dojo's loud noises forced Raimundo and Kimiko to open their eyes and watch the dragon bounce all over the room.

"Dojo, what's wrong?" Raimundo asked.

"We got ourselves a Shen Gong Wu sighting kids!" Dojo yelled. "And thank goodness, I was going crazy counting the 73 Shen Gong Wu that we had in the vault." 

"We shall go retrieve it at once." Omi smiled. Raimundo walked over to Omi and put his arm around his shoulder, which Kimiko and Clay thought was brotherly. Kimiko thought that Raimundo's brotherly behavior around Omi was somewhat adorable, and she felt her cheeks turn red as he gave Omi a softened smile.

"Omi, it's nice that you want to tell everyone what to do, but let's remember one thing here..." Raimundo's tone was soft before he yelled, " _I'M THE BOSS!_ " Raimundo's words got through to Omi as he rapidly nodded his head but Clay and Kimiko's smile disappeared. While Clay was shocked Raimundo and Omi were fighting again, Kimiko didn't mind that Raimundo was protective of his leader status. He had been put in a position of authority which he took very seriously, and sometimes it was okay for him to remind Omi who was really in charge around here. Dojo grew about 50 feet and motioned for the monks to come. Omi was the first one to jump on Dojo's back and Clay followed right behind, leaving Kimiko and Raimundo as the only two yet to board Dojo. In order to impress her, Raimundo smiled and gestured her to go first, which Kimiko couldn't help but find chivalrous.

"After you." Raimundo said. Kimiko smiled and got on Dojo's back and only then did Raimundo follow her.

"Thank you, Rai." Kimiko beamed, and with that Dojo took off, leaving the Xiaolin Monks to go get the Shen Gong Wu.


	3. Studying The Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Xiaolin warriors head to Russia to find the Polar Paws Shen Gong Wu, only for the Heylin to also appear and observe Raimundo's actions.

As Dojo flew the Xiaolin monks to the Shen Gong Wu, Omi couldn't help but observe his surroundings. There was nothing but water and pieces of land and the further Dojo flew, the colder it got. Omi shivered and crawled closer to Dojo's ear, hoping that he could ask if Dojo had made a wrong turn.

"Dojo, there must be some mistake. It is extremely cold and a Shen Gong Wu does not enjoy cold weather." Omi pointed out. Dojo shook his head and continued flying.

No mistake Omi. And this Shen Gong Wu enjoys the cold weather, thank you very much." Dojo answered back. While Dojo and Omi continued arguing, Clay, Raimundo and Kimiko searched high and low for the Shen Gong Wu, but they found themselves out of luck.

"This is more frustrating than my Auntie May playing charades with Bessie." Clay sighed. Raimundo and Kimiko gave Clay a confused look regarding his question, and Raimundo knew he had to ask how that works.

"Your aunt plays charades with a cow?" Raimundo pondered.

"It's more trouble than it's worth." Clay responded. "Trust me."

"Now I kind of want to see that happen." Raimundo muttered, although he was brought out of his thoughts when the weather suddenly went from cold to freezing. 

"Dojo, where are we?" Clay shivered as Dojo started to land on a nearby hill.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Russia!" Dojo said. Omi, Clay, Raimundo and Kimiko watched the villagers selling things in the market, but the one thing Kimiko forgot was to dress appropriately for the weather. She shivered as the boys placed their jackets on and she was mentally cursing herself for not being as prepared as the others. She wore khaki shorts, a blue t-shirt and her hair in 2 ponytails. She also wore flats instead of shoes, and she was afraid she was going to feel frostbite somewhere in her toes. Raimundo stared at Kimiko with concern as she continued to freeze and there was a big part of him that didn't want to see her suffer from frostbite. So, he did what any gentleman would do; he took off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. Kimiko quickly noticed Raimundo's kind gesture and felt her cheeks turn a crimson red, hoping that the cold air would be an excuse for her blushing.

"Thank you, Raimundo. But I don't want you to be cold." Kimiko said.

"No, you need my jacket more than I do, Kimiko." Raimundo assured her. "I'll be fine. I promise." Raimundo gave her a small smile implying that he was glad to help before they both turned towards Dojo. "So Dojo, what's the Shen Gong Wu we're looking for again?"  Dojo took the scroll out of one of his many pockets and opened it, sending a silent invitation for the other monks to glance over his shoulder.

"Were looking for the Polar Paws Shen Gong Wu." Dojo said.

"The Polar Paws can help the user withstand cold weather." Kimiko finished reading the scroll. "Figures why we're here then." Raimundo looked over Kimiko's shoulder and his only focus wasn't on the scroll. Raimundo also smelt a nice cherry blossom fragrance, which happened to be Kimiko. He tried his hardest to not look like he was smelling her and decided to focus on the task at hand.

"Dojo, we need to find it." Raimundo ordered.

"Before Jack Spicer gets to it." Omi mentioned. The other monks nodded and started walking away, trying to find the Shen Gong Wu. Omi and Clay entered a cave that was fit for a polar bear, and derived that a polar bear Shen Gong Wu could potentially be in a cave. As Omi looked around, he couldn't help but see something shiny, and he nudged Clay to gain the dragon of earth's attention. "Clay, it's over there and no one is in sight."

"Don't jinx it little buddy. We don't need that varmint Jack Spicer showing up." Clay said. As soon as Clay said those words, the monks heard rumbling.

"What's that?" Raimundo wondered. Kimiko held on to Raimundo's arm to keep herself up, and if Raimundo wasn't sensing impending danger, he would have taken advantage of Kimiko holding onto him. The rumbling got louder before the monks saw a familiar foe in Hannibal Bean, and frankly they didn't have time for Hannibal's games. Raimundo walked in front of the other monks showing confidence, while Omi, Clay and Kimiko furrowed their eyebrows at their enemy. "Hannibal Bean?" 

"What are you doing here?" Kimiko added.

"What does it look like?" Hannibal retorted. "I'm here for the Polar Paws. Hand it over."

"Hannibal Bean has never appeared as if he was interested in Shen Gong Wu before. Except for the Moby Morpher..." Omi glanced at Clay and Kimiko. While the two monks nodded their head at Omi's reasoning, Raimundo's eyes were glued on Hannibal. Like Omi and Chase Young, Raimundo's worst enemy was Hannibal Bean, although it was to a lesser extent. Raimundo went undercover to double-cross Hannibal Bean in order to get the Treasure of the Blind Swordsman, and since then Hannibal had vowed to make Raimundo pay for his misdeed.

"I'm gonna ask again, boy. Hand over the Polar Paws." Hannibal growled. However, Raimundo wasn't easily intimidated.

"No way, salad breath." Raimundo countered. 

"Well then, I guess we have to do this the hard way." Hannibal smiled. Raimundo noticed robots flying into the cave and cornering the Xiaolin monks from all over.  The robots looked oddly familiar to Raimundo, almost as if he had seen them before. "I hope you enjoy the fight Raimundo. Especially since there's no way you'll be able to defeat them all." Hannibal cackled. Raimundo noticed all the robots cornering Omi, Kimiko and Clay, and that was when he realized he didn't have a choice. The monks had to fight if they were going to leave Russia with the Polar Paws. Raimundo jumped towards his teammates as he wanted to get on the same page with them. 

"We need a plan. There's no way Hannibal's going to let us get the Shen Gong Wu with all these robots around." Raimundo told them. 

"I have one. You guys fight the robots, leave the Shen Gong Wu to me." Kimiko said. 

"All right." Raimundo smiled. Kimiko noticed Hannibal Bean was making his way towards the Polar Paws, and her first instinct was to use her fire powers and block Hannibal off. As Omi, Raimundo and Clay were fighting, Kimiko slid across the ice, aiming her fire power either in front of Hannibal or to the side. _This is almost too easy,_ Kimiko thought to herself. She jumped above Hannibal and made her way towards the Polar Paws, her eyes widening as the Shen Gong Wu was right in front of her.

"Jackpot." Kimiko grinned. But before Kimiko could grab the Shen Gong Wu, something had hit her in the side, which caused her to fall off the ledge and slide across the floor. When she looked up, she noticed Chase Young was standing over her, getting ready to attack with a few of his jungle cats.

"I believe the Shen Gong Wu is mine, foolish one." Chase Young. Chase Young was about to strike, but he was surprised when Raimundo jumped in front of Kimiko to protect her. Chase Young smirked, seeing that his main target was protecting the damsel in distress.

"You know Chase, you don't strike me as a Wu guy." Raimundo scoffed. "So I'm not sure why you want this one."

"You again. Omi hasn't dethroned you as the leader of you monks yet?" Chase Young jested. 

"Look, we're not here to play games. Give us the Polar Paws. The Shen Gong Wu has no use to you." Raimundo argued.

"Is that so?' Chase Young asked. Raimundo noticed Kimiko getting up from her position, but the both of them noticed Chase Young turned into a serpent.  Raimundo shook his head and looked back at Kimiko, seeing her geared up to fight the rude intruder. Chase Young saw her determined expression as she charged for him, but Chase Young slashed at her which forced Kimiko to hit the wall.

" _KIMIKO!_ " Raimundo yelled running over to her, seeing her blue sapphire eyes look up at him. "Are you all right?"

Kimiko sat up and looked Raimundo in the eye, observing the worried expression painted on his face.

"I think so." Kimiko said. Raimundo helped her up as the two of them kept their eyes on Chase Young. However, Chase Young was in observation mode, and judging from Raimundo's protectiveness of Kimiko, he found the answer he was looking for. Omi and Clay had slid down from their position and joined Raimundo and Kimiko in their fight against Chase Young, but once again it seemed Chase Young was just taunting them. 

"Give us the Polar Paws or prepare for a humiliating defeat." Omi yelled. 

"Finally, a real challenge. The girl was too weak for my liking." Chase Young smugly said, causing Raimundo and Kimiko to grit their teeth in response. 

"While I would normally agree, Kimiko is a liable asset to our team." Omi responded.

"Omi, not helping!" Raimundo shouted at his friend, but his eyes continued to lock on Chase Young when he noticed the serpent had his eyes on Kimiko. Raimundo wasn't sure why Chase Young had taken a sudden interest in the dragon of fire, but before he had the chance to ask, he heard the roaring of a helibot, and no one needed to turn around to know who that was. "Jack Spicer? You're in on this too?!"

"Duh bolt for brains." Jack jumped on one of the collapsed Jack Bots and smirked. "So where's the Wu so we can get the heck out of here?" 

"Jack, I believe playtime is over. I've successfully found our Shoku Warrior's weakness." Chase Young said.

"Ooh, really?! What is it?" Jack sounded excited, but Chase Young simply grimaced at the self proclaimed genius.

"We'll discuss it later." Chase Young said, tossing the Polar Paws to Omi. The Xiaolin warriors watched as Hannibal and Jack followed Chase Young, but Raimundo was surprised Chase Young had paused to stare directly at him. "Goodbye, Raimundo. Until we meet again."

With that, Chase Young, Hannibal and Jack walked out of the cave, the Xiaolin monks staring at the Shen Gong Wu in Omi's hand.

"I am most confused." Omi admitted. "Why would Chase Young have us fight, only to give us the Shen Gong Wu?"

"What I'm more concerned about is what did Chase Young mean about our leader's weakness?" Clay wondered. Omi, Clay and Kimiko all turned their heads towards Raimundo.

"Raimundo is a weak leader?" Omi guessed. "Does this mean someone else is more worthy to lead us monks?!"

"Omi, that's not what Chase Young meant at all." Kimiko glared at the dragon of water before her eyes softened towards Raimundo. "Rai? Do you know what Chase Young is talking about?"  Raimundo blushed at Kimiko before shaking his head back and forth.

"Nope, no clue." Raimundo lied. Kimiko put her hand on his shoulder and sighed.

"Raimundo, just so you know, it's okay if there's something that makes you weak. It happens with every warrior. Clay's slow, I have a fiery temper and Omi has a big ego." Kimiko said.

"Hey!" Omi almost sounded offended. "My ego is the correct size!" While Raimundo appreciated Kimiko's words, he gently removed her hand from his shoulder and firmly shook his head.

"Not this warrior. We got the Wu, let's go home." Raimundo didn't stare at his teammates as they walked towards Dojo, but Kimiko knew there was something Raimundo wasn't revealing. As Omi and Clay walked ahead, Kimiko walked alongside Raimundo and placed a hand on his arm.

"Are you all right?" Kimiko asked. Raimundo turned around and saw sapphire meet with emerald. He couldn't possibly tell her that she was the one Chase Young was after. He didn't want to worry her.

"I guess. I...I don't know what Chase Young meant." Raimundo said sadly. 

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, what my weakness is, I don't know." Raimundo started explaining but it came out jumbled. Kimiko laughed lightly and grabbed his hand. He couldn't help but feel his cheeks turn pink, although he could easily play it off from the cold air.

"Well then I guess we have to find it." Kimiko vowed. 

"Yeah, I guess we have to find it." Raimundo repeated with sincerity. He glanced at the over sized jacked on her and felt his lips curl to a smirk. "By the way, that jacket looks good on you." Kimiko looked down at the jacket and giggled bashfully, her eyes shyly meeting his after a few moments.

"Well, you do have good taste after all." Kimiko smiled. "Honestly, thanks for lending it to me. It was really sweet of you...and it was kind of macho seeing you brave the elements without a coat." Kimiko playfully punched him with her free hand which caused Raimundo to laugh lightly. He wanted to tell Kimiko that she was his weakness, but he didn't have the heart to break it to her. He couldn't let her find out that he liked her out of the fear that she wouldn't like him back. He assumed they were just paling around, like they've done with each other for the last few years. Dojo flew down with Omi and Clay already on his back, but Dojo noticed the dark hue on Raimundo's cheeks.

"Hey Raimundo, what happened to your face? You look red." Dojo said. "Is it from the cold?" Raimundo cleared his throat as Kimiko let go of his hand, the two of them not wanting Dojo to get the wrong idea about them.

"I'm fine. Um, we should get back to the temple." Raimundo said. Raimundo jumped on Dojo and Kimiko wondered to herself. She couldn't help but think back to the fight that occurred between Raimundo and Chase Young, and she really didn't want to think that it was because of  _her_ that Raimundo was perceived weak. She saw Raimundo mingling with Omi and Clay before uttering some words to herself.

"Raimundo, for some reason, I think _I'm_ your weakness. But...I don't know, _why_." Kimiko said to herself before jumping on Dojo's back and flying back to the temple with the others.


	4. Won't Say I'm In Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omi, Kimiko and Clay continue to try to find Raimundo's weakness, but Kimiko becomes frustrated when Raimundo won't admit it's actually her. Meanwhile, Chase Young has Jack begin the next phase of his plan.

The next day was simply dedicated to finding Raimundo's weakness, but Raimundo wasn't planning on telling his commerades in fear that they would make fun of him, or that their friendship would forever change. He didn't even know why he was entertaining the idea. 

_Oh, wait._

He decided to go along with their plan because Omi continued to pester him, and after he said no to Omi, Kimiko convinced him. Kimiko was  _really_ making it hard for him to say no to anything lately, and of course, he knew exactly why. On that particular morning, Raimundo found himself in the temple kitchen with Kimiko sitting in the chair next to him. Clay currently had his face in a bowl of food and Omi was meditating on his head, hoping that his special form of meditation would be enough to figure out why Chase Young suddenly stopped their battle while getting the Polar Paws Shen Gong Wu.

"What can Raimundo be weak of?" Omi finally asked, garnering the attention of his teammates. Kimiko had a strong idea as to what made Raimundo weak at the knees, but because Omi and Clay were there, she didn't want to push the subject on him.

"What about spiders?" She falsely suggested. Raimundo shook his head and sighed in response.

"I don't mind spiders. There all right." Raimundo said to her.

"What about BBQ? People are sometimes afraid of BBQ Ribs and stuff." Clay mentioned. Raimundo laughed slightly at Clay's suggestion before he became serious again.

"No Clay, I'm not afraid of food. Besides, food is where you shine." Raimundo said, giving a thumbs up in the process. Omi finally got out of his meditation handstand and pointed to the Shoku Warrior, almost believing that he had some sort of breakthrough.

"Maybe it is not something Raimundo is afraid of. Maybe it is something he loves." Omi said. Raimundo immediately blushed at what Omi was suggesting. He really had to stop his blushing. It was only a matter of time before Omi and Clay figure out it wasn't because of the cold weather.

"No, Omi. Nothing like that!" Raimundo assured him. Kimiko on the other hand was slightly disappointed. However, she decided to play it off by getting up from the chair and getting Raimundo on his feet as well.

"We're not going to figure anything out if we just sit here. Come on, Raimundo. Let's have a private chat." Kimiko said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room with haste. Omi noticed Kimiko holding his hand, and it wasn't the first time Raimundo and Kimiko had made physical contact with one another. Omi pulled the _Ancient Guide to Females_ from his pocket and handed it to Clay, hoping the Texan could come up with some answers.

"Is hand holding in the book, Clay?" Omi wondered as Clay grabbed the book and flipped through the pages. "Because I do not recall Raimundo and Kimiko doing all that before."

"I don't think so, partner." Clay answered. "Relationships are complicated. There's no rule book for it, like there is for a Xiaolin Showdown."

"Why not?" Omi pondered.

"Well, not all relationships are the same." Clay tried to explain. "And by the way, Rai and Kim aren't in a relationship-- _yet_."

"So when will they be in one?" Omi asked, Clay leaning back in his chair with amusement.

"As soon as Rai isn't too yellow-bellied to tell Kimiko how he feels." Clay chuckled.

"Raimundo does not have a yellow belly." Omi innocently blinked before pointing to his own skin complexion. "I do!" Clay simply let out a sigh before he continued eating his breakfast. No matter how hard anyone tried, Omi wasn't ever going to understand slang.

* * *

 Twenty minutes later, Raimundo and Kimiko found themselves sitting by the Temple Garden, trying to loosen Raimundo's mind so he could admit what his weakness was. Raimundo glanced over as Kimiko looked at the fish in the pond, thinking that if it weren't a matter of life and death, them sitting by the pond would have been romantic. He was going to do it. He was going to tell Kimiko how he felt. Now seemed like the perfect time since they were alone, and there was no Omi and Clay to destroy the moment.

"Raimundo?" Raimundo got out of his thoughts when he noticed Kimiko staring back at him with a quizzical look. "Earth to Raimundo. Are you there?"

"Oh, yeah." Raimundo quickly nodded his head in return. "Um, you were saying?" Kimiko gave him a coy smile before glancing back at the pond, thinking that this idea was absolutely fool-proof.

"Remember how I said that meditating helps clear your mind?" Kimiko saw Raimundo nod his head at her question. "Well, you're going to meditate so you can figure out what your weakness is."

 _Easier said than done,_ Raimundo thought to himself. But he had to pretend that he was at least enthusiastic about the idea. If he gave off that he knew what the weakness was, Kimiko would catch on.

"So what makes you vulnerable? And remember, it's just me you're talking to. Unlike Omi, I won't judge." she said. Raimundo wanted to say the truth, but instead, he chickened out.

"I don't know." Raimundo lied. Kimiko pursed her lips at Raimundo's answer, so she tried a different approach.

"All right, close your eyes and let your Ying align with your Yang. And once you've achieved total zen, you can focus in on your vulnerabilities." Kimiko smiled.

"Are we training to be the next Master Fung?" Raimundo teased, Kimiko nudging him in response.

"Just do it." Kimiko gave a light chuckle. Raimundo obliged and closed his eyes, hoping that he would think of something else that would make him vulnerable aside from Kimiko. But once he found perfect zen, the only thing that he saw was the fight between Kimiko and Chase Young, and how Chase Young had basically flung her across he room like a rag doll. He thought about how in that moment he had to protect her, how if something ever happened to her, he would never forgive himself. It wasn't until that moment he realized he didn't just like Kimiko, he was in  _in love_ with her. He gasped at his revelation, but when he saw Kimiko's face light up, he knew that she had figured out _something._

"I know that look. It worked! So what is it?" Kimiko asked. Raimundo considered telling her the truth, he really did. But he couldn't put her in that sort of danger. If he didn't admit it out loud, then there was no risk of the Heylin being a threat to Kimiko.

"I...I just remembered that...um, weren't you supposed to meet Dojo or Master Fung or...something?" Raimundo finally asked. Kimiko's heart sank a little because she knew deep down, Raimundo was hiding something. But if he wasn't going to admit it to her, then maybe he wasn't going to admit it to anyone.

"Uh, yeah. I do have to meet Dojo, now that you mention it." Kimiko got up from position and gave Raimundo a small smile. "I'll see you later, Raimundo." Kimiko turned on her heels and sadly walked away from him, not even looking back at the dragon of wind's face expression. Raimundo knew Kimiko was a little hurt since he lied, and he felt so bad for hurting her feelings. He splashed the water in the pond out of frustration and cursed at himself, glancing at his reflection in the pond with sadness.

"Why can't I tell her how I feel?" Raimundo muttered. He had no idea that Omi and Clay were standing right behind him, and heard his rhetorical question.

"Tell who how you feel?" Omi asked. Raimundo turned around in shock and noticed Omi and Clay's curiosity. He had to cover up what he just said so that it wouldn't get to Kimiko.

"It was nothing. No one." Raimundo couldn't tell anyone, not even Omi or Clay about Kimiko. Raimundo knew that Omi wouldn't understand and both he and Clay would make fun of him for actually having feelings. Omi had decided to drop the question and bought up another topic that became of interest to Raimundo.

"We need to figure out what Chase Young is planning. He is an admirable foe, and he clearly wants a weakness so he can use it to his advantage." Omi continued.

"Are you sure Chase Young is the admirable foe?" Clay didn't mean to sound skeptical about Chase Young's abilities. "That little Hannibal Bean dude is the size of a toenail and can lift more pounds than a tractor trailer."

"While Hannibal Bean is also threatening, Chase Young is almost impossible to beat." Omi remarked. Raimundo simply scoffed at Omi's statement.

"Nothing is impossible. We've beat Chase Young before and we can beat him again." Raimundo stated in a matter-of-fact tone. However, when it came to what Chase Young's plan was, even he was stumped. "But I wonder why Chase Young needed both Hannibal and Jack Spicer? I mean, they're not exactly on the top of his nice list. And Chase Young can't stand Jack."

"That's also what baffles me as well, partner." Clay sighed.

"We need to figure out what's going on, or else things will happen. Not just for us, but for the world" Raimundo said. Omi and Clay thought of what could happen to the world if Chase Young got his way, but Raimundo was thinking more along the lines of Kimiko's safety and how she was in danger because of him.

* * *

 At Chase Young's lair, the evil villains stood in Chase Young's library as Chase Young's mind whirled. The first part of his plan was complete which was finding out Raimundo's weakness, and while it wasn't like him to walk away from a good fight, he knew he had to bring Jack and Hannibal back to his palace so he could tell them in private. The only problem was Hannibal and Jack were thinking other things, such as Chase Young simply handing the Polar Paws to the Xiaolin monks.

"I don't get it. Why did you make us leave the fight early?" Jack complained. "And why did you give the monks the Polar Paws? How am I supposed to collect all the Shen Gong Wu, if you just hand it to them?"

"Because it was a lost cause to fight them, nitwit." Hannibal countered. "And why do you want the Shen Gong Wu anyway? The only thing you'd be able to rule with them is your Jack Bots."  Jack wasn't sure what he was more upset about; the fact Hannibal thought that the only thing he could rule was his robots or that Hannibal called him a nitwit.

"Why do you always do that?" Jack whined.

"Do what Jack?" Hannibal played dumb so Jack could be his entertainment.

"Why do you always _tease me?_ " Jack started sounding like a kindergartner than an evil genius, which amused Hannibal. Chase Young had more pressing matters at hand, and he couldn't take anymore of their bickering. They both sounded more like children than dangerous villains.

" _SILENCE!_ " Chase Young yelled, his voice shaking the room. Jack and Hannibal looked over at Chase Young and noticed his eyes were forming into a serpents shape, which gave Jack and Hannibal the message to be quiet. "To answer Jack's question, there was something that I picked up during our fight with the Xiaolin Monks, which was why I decided to retreat." Jack and Hannibal gave each other a quizzical look before their eyes darted once again to the 1500-year-old serpent.

"What is it?" Jack wondered. Chase Young turned around to face Jack and smiled.

"It seems that our Shoku Warrior has caught the love bug." Chase Young said before he let out a sneer. "How pathetic."

"Wait, so he's in love?" Jack asked the obvious. "But the only girl that's at that stupid temple is Kimi--" Jack stopped in his tracks before laughter took over. "Oh MAN, this is RICH! Raimundo's in love with Kimiko! MAN, this is too good!" Jack fell on the floor as his laughter turned hysterical, but Chase Young's glance was just enough to silence the evil boy genius and recompose himself. Jack dusted himself off from the floor and pointed to Chase Young, almost as if he didn't enter a laughing fit before. "Continue."

"Yes, Raimundo has feelings for the dragon of fire, but he obviously won't admit it." Chase Young mentioned. Jack and Hannibal then wondered the same thing, but Jack was the only one who dared to ask the question.

"Why not?" Chase Young sighed at Jack's question and continued pacing acround the room.

"Because he has too much pride to admit it. And if he doesn't admit it aloud, there's no chance of us finding out. But now that his feelings are clear, it brings us to the next phase of our plan." Chase Young said. "We need someone that they expect to go to the temple an attack them." Jack raised his hand volunteering. He had been attacking the warriors since day 1 trying to steal their Shen Gong Wu, so this job seemed to be right up Jack's alley.

"I'll do it!" Jack eagerily volunteered.

"That was the idea, Spicer." Chase Young smirked. "Your going to attack the monks and toy with Raimundo's heart a bit. If the nitwit really is in love with Kimiko, then it should hurt that we play with his emotions."

"Wait, the next phase of your plan is to mess with the hearts of two teenagers?" Hannibal sounded as if he was in disbelief.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it is kind of tame for the great Chase Young." jack added, but Chase Young clearly knew there was more to the plan than that.

"Oh, but don't you see? This is just the beginning. The rest will unfold... _in time_." Chase Young walked out of the room and Jack flew his helibot back to his lair in order to get the Jack Bots ready for a Xiaolin raid. But Hannibal wasn't impressed with the plan so far. How was messing with Raimundo's heart supposed to teach that Xiaolin punk a lesson?

 


	5. Figuring Out The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Omi and Clay confront Raimundo about his feelings for Kimiko, which he attempts to deny. However, they tell Kimiko of their findings, which forces Kimiko to battle her conflicting emotions as well.

The next morning, Master Fung had gathered the Xiaolin monks in the courtyard. After Raimundo had told him about Chase Young, Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean going after the Shen Gong Wu, Master Fung realized it was more than just them trying to get to Raimundo. They were after something. But since Master Fung told the monks to meet him after breakfast, Dojo was the one that had to clean up after them.

"Really? I'm the one that has to scrub breakfast pots while the monks lounge around in the sun? I fly them everywhere to get Shen Gong Wu and now I have to do their chores?" Dojo angrily questioned. "I love the kids and all but come on now!"

"Dojo, the Heylin Comet is about to appear, and the monks need to be properly trained if they're going to defeat Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer." Master Fung replied.

"Well, if there's one thing they need to learn, it's not to make such a mess." Dojo grumbled to himself and started scrubbing pans, not wanting to anger Master Fung. Master Fung rubbed his temples and walked into the courtyard, where he heard Omi, Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay discussing today's lesson. He also heard Omi getting a little too ahead of himself.

"I am most sure that I will be the victorious warrior today. After all, I am the greatest Xiaolin monk ever!" Omi smiled. Kimiko was growing tired of Omi's bragging, which he had been doing for the past 25 minutes.

"Someone has a big head." She joked. Omi heard her comment and turned toward her, puffing his chest as he tried to compete with the dragon of fire.

"I do not have a big head!" Omi countered.

"Chill, Omi. What she means is that you have a big ego." Raimundo butted in before whispering to Kimiko. "Which is kind of true..."

"I do not have a big ego! My ego is the right size." Omi said confidently.

"It's good to have self confidence, but not too much." Kimiko reminded him. "And by the way...you say you're the greatest Xiaolin monk out of all of us...but isn't _Raimundo_ a higher rank than _you_?" 

"Ooh, _BURN!_ " Raimundo and Clay said in unison before giving Kimiko a high-five.

"You are right, Kimiko!" Omi revealed. "Raimundo is a higher rank than I..." Raimundo and Clay were surprised to think that Kimiko had actually gotten through to the dragon of water. But alas they were disappointed when his cocky attitude returned. "Which is why one day, I shall rise to the rank of Grand Master, and Raimundo will stay a Shoku Warrior forever!"

"Hate to burst your bubble little buddy, but I highly doubt Raimundo is going to stay at the same level forever." Clay added. Omi started pouting as Master Fung walked towards his students. The four monks immediately gave Master Fung their undivided attention, but Raimundo and Kimiko noticed Omi was trying to stand out from the rest, which caused the two of them to appear annoyed.

"Good morning, monks." Master Fung smiled at his students. The monks all bowed as they showed respect for their master. They knew they were going to undergo some rigorous training, especially after Raimundo had spoke with Master Fung the night before about Chase Young making a surprise visit to a Shen Gong Wu location. "As Raimundo has told me, Chase Young arrived in Russia but not for the Shen Gong Wu, but because there is a great evil afoot. We don't know what evil is planning, but what we can do is better prepare for when the time comes. Today we are going to work on bringing out the best of your element." Master Fung said. Omi, Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo gave each other a wary look, but Omi's face immediately became confident.

"I will excel at this." Omi smiled, Raimundo rolling his eyes in return.

"Good luck with that." Kimiko mumbled which earned a snicker from Raimundo.

"Do you dare defy me?! Or are you afraid I shall wash your watches!" Omi yelled.

"Clean your clocks." Clay corrected.

"No Omi, we're not afraid at all." Kimiko spoke for both her and Raimundo, which Raimundo was grateful for. Master Fung was getting tired of their bickering and decided to point towards Omi.

"Omi, since you are so confident that you're a better Xiaolin master than Raimundo and Kimiko, would you like to go first?" Master Fung asked. Omi nodded and walked forward, excited to finally show Raimundo and Kimiko what he was capable of.

"But of course Master Fung." Omi smiled walking forward. "What is my task?"

"Your task is to use your elemental powers to hit one of those 4 targets. Can you do that?" Master Fung wondered.

"Oh yes, Master Fung. I most certainty can." Omi nodded. Omi took one look at the targets and turned to the pond that was nearby. " _WUDAI NEPTUNE! WATER!_ " Omi yelled. The water from the pond had risen and started to head for the targets, but Omi had gotten distracted when he had saw a bee. The water missed the target and headed straight for Kimiko, Raimundo and Clay, and before Omi could gain control of the water, it had hit the other 3 monks standing in his presence, making all 3 of them fume with anger.

"OMI!" Kimiko shouted for herself and her friends, which caused Omi to glance down in embarrassment.

"A very _interesting_ display, Omi. But remember, focus is key." Master Fung weakly said as Omi walked back to his other monks with confusion and disappointment. Master Fung pointed at Raimundo and a small smile crossed his face. Maybe his Shoku Warrior can show Omi a thing or two about concentration. "Raimundo, why don't you show Omi the proper way to focus?" Raimundo gulped and suddenly felt nauseated but Kimiko patted his shoulder lightly, which allowed him to take a relaxing breath. He didn't know why but Kimiko always made him feel better when he was nervous. Raimundo walked ahead of the other monks and positioned himself in front of the target. "Are you ready?" Master Fung asked. Raimundo acknowledged he was ready all without taking his eye off the target.

" _SHOKU STAR! WIND!_ " Raimundo shouted, which suddenly caused a wind storm. Raimundo guided the wind to the target and with one flick of his wrist, the target broke in half leaving the other 3 monks in awe. Master Fung nodded his head in approval before Raimundo had another trick up his sleeve. Raimundo then gusted more wind and this time it had lifted Kimiko in the air. Omi and Clay looked at Kimiko flying through the air in pleasure but then realized how high up she was.

"Raimundo! Get me down!" Kimiko yelled in half fear. Raimundo nodded and let the wind slowly gust down before she safely landed in his arms. Kimiko's eyes were shut and she didn't know she had landed in his arms, until she heard him give a small laugh.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a caring tone. Kimiko opened her eyes and glanced at him, giving a small smile in return to his question. Raimundo grinned before putting her down on the floor, Kimiko blushing as the two of them made their way towards Omi and Clay were.

"Very good, Raimundo. Omi, you might want to take notes." Master Fung said. Kimiko, Clay and Raimundo started laughing while Omi appeared upset. He had once again been triumphed by Raimundo, and he only had his ego to blame. Master Fung  looked at Kimiko and Clay, trying to decide who was going next. As if Kimiko knew what Master Fung was thinking, she raised her hand. "Yes, Kimiko?" Master Fung wondered.

"May I go next?" She asked. Master Fung nodded and Kimiko cracked her knuckles. She walked past the boys and looked at her target. As if Kimiko knew what she was doing, she released 3 fire balls from the palm of her hand and started juggling them.

" _WUDAI MARS! FIRE!_ " Kimiko yelled. She then threw the fireballs at the target and the target burned right down the middle, earning applause from Omi, Raimundo and Clay.

"Excellent, Kimiko." Master Fung congratulated her. Kimiko walked back to her place in line before Raimundo gave her a quick smile which said his congratulations. She smiled back at him before Master Fung called upon Clay. Clay walked forward towards the target and balanced himself, all while keeping his eye on the target.

" _WUDAI CRATER! EARTH!"_ Clay shouted. As soon as Clay yelled his element, the ground started to open up, which forced Omi and Raimundo to jump on the banister and Kimiko to jump in Raimundo's arms. Clay took the rocks from inside the crevice and threw them at his target, breaking the wooden circle in half. Unfortunately one end of the target flew towards Raimundo, Kimiko and Omi, which forced the other three monks to dodge it. Raimundo held Kimiko tightly as he jumped down from the banister, the wooden target hitting the wall and causing the monks to let out a sigh of relief.

"Well done, Clay." Master Fung said towards the dragon of earth. Kimiko clung onto Raimundo tighter as he walked around the crevice to get to Master Fung, but Clay and Omi realized Raimundo was holding onto her for a bit too long.

"Um, Rai?" Clay wondered, pointing to the dragon of fire in Raimundo's arms. Raimundo honestly didn't want to let her go but he knew that he had to. He put her down softly  while she slowly unclasped her hands from Raimundo's neck.

"Well done monks." Master Fung applauded. "You are dismissed for the day." When Raimundo heard those words, he looked over at Kimiko, hoping that he could talk to her and maybe apologize for the other day. But before he could get to her, Omi and Clay blocked him and gave him a serious gesture.

"Rai, we need to talk, partner." Clay said. When Raimundo heard the seriousness in Clay's voice, he froze and subsequently worried. What could have they wanted to talk to him about?

* * *

 Clay and Omi had dragged Raimundo to his quarters before sitting him down on the mat. Raimundo looked up at them and was a little ticked off that Omi and Clay weren't interested in telling him their problem out in the courtyard, but Omi and Clay secretly didn't want someone to stumble upon their findings. 

"All right, what's going on that you had to drag me all the way here?" Raimundo's voice was a little stern.

"Well, when were training, Omi and I realized what your weakness is." Clay started, nudging Omi in the ribs to continue his thought.

"Yes. Your weakness has nothing to do with a fear...it has to do with a person." Omi elaborated. With Omi's sentence, Raimundo's eyes widened and fear suddenly started to take over. Was it possible...?

"What are you talking about, chrome dome?" Raimundo asked.

"Raimundo, Kimiko is your weakness." Omi said. Raimundo didn't know what to do, so he did something that caught Omi and Clay off-guard; he started laughing hysterically as if what Omi and Clay suggested was ridiculous.

"Kimiko my weakness. That's a good one!" Raimundo finished his fake hysterical laugh as his face turned serious, but Omi and Clay weren't buying it.

"Do not tell lies, Raimundo! You have love stamped on your face!" Omi yelled. 

"I think he meant 'you have love tattooed on your forehead'." Clay said. Raimundo nodded his head in understanding but still remembered that he had to convince Omi and Clay that it wasn't true.

"Look, you guys are crazy. If I had a crush on Kimiko then I would have said it, right?" Raimundo said.

"No." Omi countered.

"Rai, we noticed that you like her." Clay spoke. "Your feelings were a little obvious."

"Oh yes, _The Ancent Guide To Females_ gave many tips about these things called 'feelings'." Omi added, but Raimundo growled under his breath as Omi mentioned the book that Kimiko disliked so much.

"You better not let Kimiko hear you talking about that book or she'll kick you into another dimension." Raimundo pointed a finger at Omi before his eyes darted to Clay. "Guys, if I had any romantic feelings towards Kimiko, I would have told you. You guys are my best buds and this is something I wouldn't keep to myself." Raimundo put his arms around Clay and Omi's shoulders as reassurance but Omi still wasn't convinced.

"I'm afraid it is a little difficult to believe you. After all, you have been rather deceptive in the past." Omi was now pushing Raimundo's patience and Raimundo removed his arms around Omi and Clay's shoulders.

"Guys! I don't have feelings for Kimiko!" Raimundo yelled. He was unsure how long he could keep with this charade, but he was tired of Clay and Omi trying to center stage his feelings.

"You claim that you do not have feelings for her, but you do. It says so in this book." Omi pulled the book out of his robe and pointed to one of the pages.

"Forget the stupid book! Look, whatever I may feel isn't your business, so do me a favor and just drop it!" Raimundo stormed out of his quarters and headed out to the temple garden, but Omi and Clay weren't convinced by Raimundo's words.  They knew that there was something going on regarding his feelings. Omi and Clay came out of Raimundo's quarters and peered towards Kimiko's, noticing the light from her laptop was on. If Raimundo wasn't going to admit his feelings, then Omi and Clay were going to admit it to Kimiko for him. After all, Raimundo keeping it bottled up was bound to put her in danger.

"Rai seems mighty scared about revealing his feelings. Maybe we should talk to Kimiko and see how she feels." Clay suggested. Omi nodded and followed Clay to Kimiko's quarters, Omi knocking on the wooden frame and Kimiko opening the curtain.

"Oh, hey Omi, hey Clay." Kimiko smiled before letting them in. Omi and Clay glanced around her little area, seeing that her laptop was plugged in and a photo album was open. 

"Kimiko, whatever are you doing?" Omi pondered, Kimiko staring at the photos that were on the floor.

"Oh, my friends in Tokyo wanted to see some photos of you guys since you're all I talk about." Kimiko answered. "I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, little lady." Clay grinned at her before seeing a picture that piqued his interest. He grabbed it off the floor and stared at it, seeing it was a photo of him. Raimundo and Kimiko just right after Raimundo was promoted to Shoku Warrior. He remembered Kimiko jumping into Raimundo's arms and giving him a chaste kiss on his cheek all while Raimundo had easily carried the dragon of fire off the ground. If Clay was reading into the photo correctly, he would have assumed that Kimiko was giving Raimundo an affectionate smile. Kimiko looked up from her computer screen and saw Clay staring at the photo, the dragon of earth finally clearing his throat and handing the photo to Kimiko. "That's a good photo of you and Rai."

"You're in the photo too, Clay." Kimiko chuckled, but stared down at it. "But I was really proud of him here. I think it was the proudest I've ever been. I mean, after everyone wrote him off, he actually saved everyone from a mistake _Omi_ made." Omi realized the emphasis of his name and scowled at her, but Kimiko ignored Omi's glare. "By the way, where is Raimundo? I thought he would have been with you guys."

"He headed out to the courtyard." Clay sighed, but Omi decided to move the conversation into what the boys had talked about just a few moments prior.

"Kimiko, there is something we must tell you about Raimundo." Omi said smiling.

"What? That he finally stopped borrowing my hair dryer." Kimiko smirked while raising an eyebrow.

"He does what now?" Clay tried to stifle his laughter as Omi did the same.

"How else do you think his hair looks so good?" Kimiko felt her cheeks turn a rosy pink as she realized what she said about Raimundo. She decided to change the conversation by clearing her throat and motioning with her hands for Omi and Clay to continue. "As you were saying?"

"All right, so the thing we wanted to tell you about Raimundo was...." Clay started to say while motioning towards Omi to finish the thought.

"Raimundo likes you, Kimiko!" Omi finished. Kimiko's became muddled as Omi and Clay stared at the dragon of fire, hoping that they would get some sort of reaction out of her. Instead, Kimiko gave the boys a smile and placed a hand on her hip.

"Of course likes me." Kimiko said.

"You know?" Omi wondered.

"Um, yeah. Raimundo's my best friend. Why wouldn't he like me?" Kimiko wondered. Omi and Clay realized that Kimiko meant just as a friend, not in a romantic way.

"I don't think Omi means it in the way you think." Clay said. 

"Um, what are you 2 talking about?" Kimiko asked, her eyebrows furrowing at the mystery surrounding the situation.

"Raimundo likes you...with 'feelings'." Omi emphasized and Kimiko realized that Omi was now talking about romance.

"Wait a minute? You two are trying to tell me that Raimundo has feelings for me?" Kimiko asked. Deep down Kimiko knew she had feelings for Raimundo, but unlike Raimundo, Kimiko knew how to keep her friends second-guessing. 

"That is what we are trying to say, Kimiko." Omi said. Kimiko's face turned into disgust, thinking that Omi and Clay were messing around with her feelings before she stood up and pointed a finger at them.

"That's low even for you two. If Raimundo did really like me then he would tell me himself." When Kimiko said the second sentence, she began to sound unsure. Would Raimundo _really_ tell her that he had feelings for her, or would he have kept them to himself?

"Do you like Raimundo, Kimiko?" Omi asked. Kimiko was taken aback by Omi's question, and it caused her to blush while answering with sincerity.

"Rai? I mean, yeah. He's funny, smart, sweet…but a little cocky." Kimiko thought back to when they first met and how Raimundo would do everything in the book to annoy her. But overtime, they became extremely close and Raimundo's antics wouldn't even annoy her. She always found ways to get him back. When she realized that she had said a little too much, she cleared her throat and looked away from her friends, hoping that they wouldn't see the embarrassed look on her face. "I..I mean, I do like him like a friend. Not sure about the whole romance thing."

"He has become kinder since your first encounter, am I correct?" Omi asked, acting as if he knew the answer. Kimiko turned to him and shook her head, a shoulder shrug soon following.

"He has changed I guess." Kimiko was still thinking about Raimundo and how he was annoying, but the best friend that she could ever ask for.

"So would you tell him you like him?" Omi wondered. Kimiko was shocked at Omi's question, afraid that if she did tell Raimundo then he would probably laugh in her face.

"No!" Kimiko yelled.

"Really?" Clay asked. Kimiko shook her head now becoming angry.

"Yes really." Kimiko said. Besides Omi, even if there was a slight chance Raimundo and I had feelings for each other, there's no chance of a relationship happening. Our job is to stop evil at all costs, and Raimundo knows as well as I do that if we even lower our guard for a minute, the Heylin will attack. And the Heylin won't hesitate to have any of us dead."

"Kimiko, if you don't mind me saying, but it sounds like you're scared of admitting your feelings because you think you'd be perceived as weak." Kimiko huffed at Clay's explanation and Clay knew he was playing with fire here, but he had to let Kimiko know that if she had feelings, she had to take advantage of them. "Raimundo knows how strong you are, and he would still treat you like a valuable member of the team. But, I will say that any feelings Raimundo has might be misused by the Heylin and it could put both you and him in danger." Kimiko knew that potentially revealing her feelings was tricky. She didn't know it'd be this tricky. She ultimately decided to let out a sigh, sitting down and crossing her arms.

"Omi? Clay? We never had this conversation." Kimiko glanced at her laptop, which gave Omi and Clay the cue that it was time to get out of the room. As they left, Kimiko's mind immediately swarmed around Raimundo and she couldn't believe it. "Raimundo has a crush on _me_?" Kimiko had muttered to herself before her eyes went back to the picture of her in his arms on the floor. She picked it up and stared intently at the photo, determination setting in. She was insistent on having Raimundo tell her the truth about his feelings. She just hoped that Omi and Clay weren't wrong. 

* * *

 

Kimiko didn't realize it, but right outside the window sat Ying-Ying on the perch. And as he heard about Raimundo and Kimiko's teenage angst, he decided to fly back towards Chase Young's lair and confirm to Hannibal and Chase Young what they had already knew...

And now they could officially use the dragon of wind and fire's feelings for each other against them.


	6. A Jack Spicer Temple Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the cusp of Kimiko and Raimundo admitting their feelings, Jack Spicer arrives at the temple and launches an attack. However, the monks are confused when Jack only takes one Shen Gong Wu: The Shroud of Shadows. Meanwhile, Kimiko confirm her beliefs that she's Raimundo's weakness, although she's unsure why.

That night, Raimundo stared up at the twilight sky, seeing all the stars that he couldn't see at home in Brazil. Back in Rio, everything was so tough; he was one of the many children in his family, and he was a performer at the family circus his parents ran. Life in Rio was complicated since he literally had to fight every single day in order to make sure there was food on the table. He always thought Rio would be the only thing he'd ever known, but then he got an invitation to attend the Xiaolin Temple, and his life changed forever. He made some great friends at the temple, notably Omi and Clay, but it was Kimiko that had changed the way he viewed things. Just being around her made him want to grow up and show her that he was capable of being a monk. He knew she had those conflicting battles too, especially since she was the only girl and she had a fiery personality. Her fiery personality was one of the many things he liked about her, and he never could view her as weak. In fact, she was the strongest person he knew and he wished he could tell her all these things. He was just afraid that Kimiko was never going to like him in the same manner. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice Kimiko walking out to the temple courtyard, just so she could watch the night sky as well. Kimiko was surprised to find Raimundo there, but she welcomed the company. At least she didn't have to look at the nigh sky alone. She walked slowly towards the banister that Raimundo was sitting on and jumped on it herself, sitting next to him and flashing him a grin. They didn't realize how close they were sitting, with their hands only centimeters apart, but it was quite clear they were both nervous.

"Hey leader." Kimiko greeted. Raimundo turned and saw her sitting next to him, looking as beautiful as ever.

"Hey Kim." Raimundo said. Their eyes locked for a moment but Kimiko stared at the sky and observed the constellations.

"Beautiful night right?" Kimiko asked. Raimundo nodded his head and continued to look up at the sky.

"I've never seen stars like this in Rio." Raimundo admitted.

"I'm pretty sure there are stars in Rio." Kimiko giggled.

"Oh yeah, there are stars but I've always been too busy to notice them." Kimiko stared at him in awe as Raimundo nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "I guess that's what happens when you're trying hard to keep your family afloat. Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing, leaving my family when they needed me for the temple. I mean, I get the world needs me now, but..." Kimiko had never seen him so serious, and she knew she had to say something in order to make him feel better.

"Raimundo, of course you made the right choice joining the temple." Kimiko assured him. "By protecting the world, you're protecting your family. And I'm sure they're really proud of you. _I'm_ proud of you." Raimundo noticed Kimiko glancing down at her feet while sheepishly avoiding his gaze. He had never heard anyone talk about him in such a high manner before, and it really made him feel better.

"That means a lot coming from you, Kimiko. I just wanted you to know that." Kimiko stared at him while giving a light giggle as the two of them looked back at the stars. "So, what _really_ bring you out here? I don't think you came here to boost my ego."

"I just thought my best friend and I could look up at the stars together. Especially since he was probably lonely." Kimiko wanted to say something else, and Raimundo could sense it.

"I was pretty lonely, so thanks for keeping me company." Raimundo chuckled. Kimiko continued thinking back to her conversation with Omi and Clay, and how it was possible she had feelings for her friend. But she didn't want to admit anything until she was 100% sure.

"Raimundo?"

"Yeah?" Raimundo raised an eyebrow towards her, wondering why her mood changed.

"You know how we're best friends and everything, right?" Kimiko meekly questioned. "And you know how best friends tell each other everything?"

"Yeah?" Raimundo nodded. He still wasn't sure where she was getting at.

"Well..." Kimiko started. She looked down at their hands that were close, which prompted her to place her hand on top of his. "I was wondering, if..." Kimiko tried to find the words to say, and Raimundo felt his heart pound in his chest. If he was able to read movements, Kimiko was about to tell him something that could potentially change their friendship.

"If...?" Raimundo tried to get Kimiko to finish her thought, but he was surprised by how close their faces were to each other. Kimiko shyly leaned closer to him as Raimundo's breath hitched, realizing that she was about to kiss him. He also leaned in and placed his hand on her cheek, but before their lips could touch they heard a bombing noise coming from the Shen Gong Wu. Raimundo quickly turned his head and wondered what could have made that noise, Kimiko following Raimundo's gaze. Their moment was going to have to wait until later. Right now, they had to figure out what was going on. "Come on." Raimundo told Kimiko. He grabbed her hand as they ran down the corridor, but they were surprised they bumped into Omi and Clay by the mess hall.

"Raimundo?"

"Omi?"

"Kimiko?"

"Clay?"

"What was that?" The monks asked at the same time. They turned their heads towards the Shen Gong Wu vault as they immediately got up from the floor.

"It's coming from in here." Kimiko pointed in the direction of the building, leading her teammates towards the area of attack. As soon as they reached the Shen Gong Wu vault, they noticed a familiar figure: Jack Spicer and his bubble bots. The only question was, what was Jack doing here? Wasn't he working with Chase Young and Hannibal Bean?

"Missed me?" Jack asked the monks, the four Xiaolin warriors getting into a defensive fighting stance.

"Not really." Raimundo replied, Omi pointing towards the evil boy genius.

"Unhand the Shen Gong Wu at once, Jack Spicer!" Omi shouted, but Jack seemed rather bored that there was no fighting going on.

"How about, no? I've had enough of this chit-chat. Bubble Bots! ATTACK!" Jack said. But as he said for the bubble bots to attack, the robots were shooting inside the bubbles, which forced most of his creations to blow up. "SHOOT THROUGH THE HOLES! THROUGH!" The robots complied with Jack's command and started shooting at the monks. Raimundo looked at the others and nodded at them before the boys ran in different directions. Their initial plan was to make sure Jack didn't take any of the Shen Gong Wu, but Kimiko was tired of the Jack and his Jack Bots ruining her night. She was so close to revealing her feelings, but because of Jack, it had to be put on hold again...and now she was angry.

"I am not letting these metallic freaks blow up our temple!' Kimiko fumed. " _Judolette Flip! FIRE!"_ With one swift move, she blasted fire which subsequently blew up the robots. Raimundo beamed with pride towards the dragon of fire, watching as she destroyed five Jack Bots at once.

"Way to go, Kimiko!" Raimundo applauded. Kimiko turned and saw more Jack Bots coming towards her as she used her fire powers to take more of them out at once. "You know guys, maybe Kimiko has the right idea." Omi and Clay smiled and used their elemental powers to fight the robots. But just as Kimiko finished destroying one of the robots, she noticed a few entering the vault, and her first instinct was to protect the Shen Gong Wu. She ran inside where the Shen Gong Wu was kept, but she slowed her movements when she realized Jack was nowhere to be found.

"JACK!" Kimiko shouted, but realized that the vault was empty. She let out a frustrated yell when she realized Jack was gone, but she grabbed the closest Shen Gong Wu which happened to be the Eye of Dashi. Kimiko ran up to the entrance of the Shen Gong Wu vault and saw the rest of the bubble bots cornering Raimundo, Omi and Clay, which forced her to point the Shen Gong Wu at Jack's creations. " _EYE OF DASHI! FIRE!_ " With the powerful attack, the Shen Gong Wu blew up all of the robots in the vault, leaving nothing but scrap metal on the ground.

"Well done, Kimiko." Omi smiled. Raimundo patted the dragon of fire's shoulder shoulder before running into the vault to find Jack Spicer, but he was surprised when Jack was gone.

Where did Jack go?" Raimundo pondered.

"I don't know, I ran into the vault and he was gone." Kimiko explained as Clay walked along the drawers.

"What do you think that varmint was looking for?" Clay asked. "It doesn't appear as if he stole any Wu."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Kimiko opened one of the drawers and caught the attention of the boys. "The Shroud of Shadows is missing."

"Jack's somewhere in this temple." Raimundo concluded. "We need to split up and try to find him."

"Omi, you and Clay look in the Great Hall. Raimundo and I will look outside." Kimiko ordered. "Grab a Shen Gong Wu and let's go."

"I do not understand why Kimiko gets to give orders. When I give orders, Raimundo becomes most upset." Omi muttered as he and Clay followed Raimundo and Kimiko out of the Shen Gong Wu vault.

* * *

The look for Jack was taking longer than the monks thought, and in the back of Kimiko's mind she had to wonder what Jack was plotting. He came to the XIaolin Temple and used his robots to basically disguise himself? And now that she thought about it, most of the Jack Bots were directed right at her, as if he was studying her fighting style. She glanced at Raimundo as he was holding the Sword of the Storm close to him, and her mind immediately went to them almost kissing while staring at the night sky. She had to think if what Omi and Clay suggested was true...if Raimundo actually _did_ have feelings for her. And it made her question her feelings towards him as well. She continuously told herself she didn't have feelings for Raimundo, but she was sure it was because she didn't want to depend on anyone. Once she got rid of her pride, she realized maybe she did have feelings for the dragon of wind, and she sort of wished she had capitalized on them when she did.

 _Stupid Jack Spicer_ , Kimiko thought to herself as she continued to follow Raimundo. _Now I'll never know if that moment was a fluke or not_.

"Kimiko." Raimundo hissed, earning her attention. He motioned for her to come closer, Raimundo hearing rumbling coming from down the hallway. "There's someone there."

"What if it's Jack?" Kimiko whispered, Raimundo holding the Sword of the Storm in a threatening manner.

"Then I guess that means we have to be ready." Raimundo and Kimiko leaned against the wall as his eyes met hers. "On the count of three, we charge." Kimiko nodded her head as if she understood. "One, two...THREE!" Raimundo and Kimiko charged from around the corner, but they were shocked to find none other than Dojo, screaming at his reaction to Raimundo and Kimiko's sneak attack. 

"WHAT IN THE DASHI ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Dojo bellowed, trying to get over the initial shock. "I COULD'VE HAD A HEART ATTACK!"

"Ugh, we thought you were Jack." Raimundo furrowed his eyebrows in disgust.

"Jack?" Dojo's anger disappeared at Raimundo's sentence. "Why would Jack be here?"

"Because he came to attack the Shen Gong Wu temple." Kimiko responded.

"Wait, Jack was here at the temple?" Dojo questioned. "Does Master Fung know about this?"

"He does now." A voice that was neither Raimundo or Kimiko responded. Both monks turned around and saw Master Fung standing before them, his eyebrows furrowed at the situation. "What Shen Gong Wu did Jack Spicer take?"

"The Shroud of Shadows." Raimundo answered. Master Fung pondered for a few moments before he led the monks to the Shen Gong Wu vault, both Kimiko and Raimundo glancing at each other with confusion.

"It wouldn't hurt to count the Shen Gong Wu once more." Master Fung said. Dojo jumped on Master Fung's shoulders and wrapped himself loosely around the master's neck, the four of them heading to the Shen Gong Wu Vault in order to do another headcount.

* * *

As Master Fung, Kimiko, Raimundo and Dojo entered the Shen Gong Wu vault, they opened each of the drawers, counting off every Shen Gong Wu they saw. Raimundo was beginning to feel frustrated about why Jack had decided to show up, especially if he wasn't going to steal anything. Master Fung carefully looked through all of the drawers and found only one of them empty, which previously was occupied by the Shroud of Shadows.

"Only the Shroud of Shadows is unaccounted for." Master Fung said turning to Kimiko and Raimundo.

"I still don't get why Jack would just take one Shen Gong Wu and then disappear. That doesn't sound like him at all. He always tries to grab Shen Gong Wu by the bunches." Kimiko seemed flustered considering it made no sense whatsoever. 

"I can't believe this just hit me...Jack wasn't here to steal Shen Gong Wu." Raimundo said. Kimiko and Master Fung glanced at Raimundo, not sure where the dragon of wind was getting at.

"That's kind of obvious." Kimiko crossed her arms towards him. "So what was he doing here?"

"Remember when Jack brought the Jack Bots to fight, a lot of them were centered around you." Raimundo answered, taking a deep breath and preparing himself for the next part. "It's almost like Jack was spying on you." Kimiko became curious by Raimundo's logic, but she had suspected the same thing. The question was...why?

"I don't get it." Kimiko appeared muddled. "I mean, when we were getting the Shen Gong Wu, Jack, Hannibal and Chase Young were all after you. Why would they come to the temple just to observe _me_?" Raimundo knew it was time to tell her the truth. That it was because she was the one that he cared about more than anything. Even if she thought it was weird and it risked ruining their friendship, she had the right to know.

"Yeah, Raimundo." Dojo smirked, leaning on Master Fung's shoulder. "Why don't you tell her the truth?" With that, Raimundo flicked a small wind gust right at Dojo, causing the dragon to lose his balance and fall on the floor. "Okay...I deserved that."

"Rai...?" Kimiko furrowed her eyebrows as she noticed Raimundo grabbed her hand, the two of them keeping their eyes on each other as Raimundo told her the truth.

"Chase Young, Jack and Hannibal Bean are interested in you because they know it's going to get to me." Raimundo explained. "Kimiko, _you're_ my weakness."

Kimiko had a gut feeling that's what had Raimundo had wanted to say ever since they went to get the Shen Gong Wu, but now that it was confirmed, Kimiko had so many conflicting emotions. She struggled to speak, which Dojo noticed. He slithered over towards Kimiko and placed a hand on her leg in a comforting manner, all while Kimiko tried to form a sentence together. In the end, all she could say were two words. "But why?" Raimundo wasn't prepared to answer this part of the question. He wasn't quite ready to reveal his feelings towards her. 

"Because, you're my best friend and I would hate to see you getting hurt." Raimundo only told half of the truth, trying to keep the fact that he liked Kimiko out of the sentence.

"And what about Omi and Clay?" Kimiko pondered. "Wouldn't you want to see them not get hurt either?"

"Yeah, what makes her so different?" Dojo chuckled, forcing Raimundo to glare at the small dragon.

'It's...complicated, Kimiko." Raimundo simply answered, but the dragon of fire wasn't content with that answer.

"How is it complicated?" Kimiko was beginning to get frustrated, but before Raimundo could conjure up an answer, she heard her PDA go off. She went into her pocket and grabbed the handheld organizer, realizing Omi and Clay were on the other end. "Hey, did you find Jack Spicer?"

"Um, we didn't find Jack Spicer..." Clay began the sentence with an answer that Kimiko didn't want to hear. "But we did find out what he was here for."

"What was he here for?" Raimundo questioned, Kimiko raising an eyebrow towards the dragon of wind.

"He was planting these small cubes all over the temple." Clay showed Kimiko the small contraption, which caused the dragon of fire to gasp.

"Clay, that's not just a simple cube." Kimiko felt her eyebrows furrow. "Those are cameras! Jack was putting video cameras all over the temple, which means..." Kimiko looked up at the top left corner of the temple, realizing there was a blinking camera in the vicinity. "Jack has been spying on us! And he just heard everything Raimundo and I were talking about!"

"Ooh, whatever were you two discussing?" Omi sounded intrigued, but Kimiko was already thinking of a way to one-up Jack Spicer.

"Omi, you and Clay are going to spy on Chase Young, Jack and Hannibal Bean." Kimiko instructed. "Dojo's going to take you."

"I'm going to _what_ , now?" Dojo rapidly blinked at Kimiko, but she ignored him.

"We need to be a step ahead of Chase Young, especially at a time like this." Kimiko stared intently at the PDA, Clay and Omi nodding their head at Kimiko's words. She turned off the camera on the PDA and gave Dojo a smirk. "Go and meet Omi and Clay at the front of the temple. Raimundo, Master Fung and I can handle things here."

"Why do I have to go?" Dojo whined. "Isn't there a Shen Gong Wu Omi and Clay can take?"

"Dojo, you're not scared are you?" Kimiko wondered, a small smile appearing on her face.

"I'm not scared!" Dojo laughed it off before his eyes comically welled up with tears. "I'm terrified."

"Aww, poor Dojo." Kimiko leaned down and held out a key. "Would you do it for the key to my locked fridge which has all the mochi you could want?" Dojo considered Kimiko's tempting offer before he grabbed the key from her hand.

"I'm off to meet Omi and Clay!" Dojo slithered out of the vault at record speed which made Kimiko smile. However, her smile disappeared once her eyes locked on Raimundo, now wanting an answer to her previous question. Before Kimiko had a chance to ask, Master Fung placed a hand on Raimundo's shoulder, which lead the Shoku Warrior to glance at his Master.

"Now that Kimiko is a threat to the Heylin, you must make it your mission to guard her. Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer will not hesitate to use your emotions against you, and they now know Kimiko is the secret to defeating a vulnerable leader." Master Fung told him. Raimundo's eyes shifted from Master Fung to Kimiko as he nodded his head.

"I'll protect her with my life. Shoku Warrior's honor." Raimundo vowed. Kimiko couldn't help but smile when he said he was going to protect her. Deep down, she felt she was falling for him more and more. But while she was falling for him, she knew she couldn't reveal her feelings, especially since everyone at the temple would think that she wasn't independent. She knew being in a relationship wouldn't define her, but she also didn't want Omi or Clay to think that she couldn't do something because of who she was with. 

"I appreciate that." Kimiko softly replied, although she didn't sound entirely happy with the arrangement. She just knew that she was going to be treated as a defenseless object. She tried her hardest to smile at Raimundo before leaving the Shen Gong Wu vault, but as soon as she was out of view, her smile fell. She couldn't believe that she was basically the key to the Heylin destroying the Xiaolin once and for all. She had to figure out what the Heylin was up to. It was the only way the monks were going to be able to stop them once and for all.

* * *

 

"Dojo, we must hurry to Chase Young's palace!" Omi instructed as he and Clay sat on Dojo's back. "Jack Spicer should arrive at any moment, and we must figure out what Jack Spicer, Hannibal Bean and Chase Young are up to."

"I'm sorry Omi, but do _you_ want to fly?' Dojo peered at Omi, his lips curling into a grimace. "If not, I suggest you shut your pie hole. We're not going to get there any quicker. Besides, the last thing I need is Chase Young turning me into soup to keep himself alive. You know they put dragons in that thing."

"Omi didn't mean to rush you, little buddy." Clay assured the dragon. "I think he just means that us finding out what that no good varmint is up to will help make our jobs a little bit easier."

"Well, you both can stop your complaining cause we're here." Dojo sighed, flying near the entrance of the cave. As soon as Omi and Clay dismounted Dojo, the young dragon turned back into his small size. "Does anyone see evil boy loser anywhere?"

"I believe he is flying towards the cave." Omi pointed, Clay and Dojo realizing that Jack was on his way towards the entrance of Chase Young's palace. "Not to worry. I have an elaborate plan so Jack Spicer cannot see us." Omi went into his robe and pulled out a pair of chopsticks, Dojo and Clay knowing exactly what the dragon of water had in mind. " _Changing Chopsticks!_ " Omi yelled and in a blink of an eye, Omi, Clay and Dojo shrunk to the size of ants. Omi, Clay and Dojo were able to easily peer inside the palace, where they saw Jack running towards the library and catching his breath.

"Chase Young, you are never going to believe it!" Jack shouted, Hannibal Bean furrowing his eyebrows. "So I attacked the monks like you wanted and I placed cameras all over the place and I figured out something that's really juicy!"

"Spill it, Spicer. We haven't got all day." Chase Young let out a tired sigh.

"Okay, so it turns out, you were right. Raimundo's got it bad for Kimiko and now she knows that we're basically after her." Jack explained. "Plus, another juicy tidbit, Kimiko actually has some feelings for _him_ too." With that, Chase Young became intrigued and he slowly walked towards Jack.

"Does she now?" Chase Young chuckled. "Well, then this just makes things more interesting."

"Chase Young, I know that you're for some reason intrigued in a teenage romance, but what do they have to do with the Heylin Comet?" Hannibal asked.

"Keeping them preoccupied with other matters will make it easier for the plan to move forward." Chase Young said. "What we can use against the monks is they're not just warriors, they're teenagers. And being a teenager comes with many conflicting emotions...emotions that we can pounce upon."

"I'm liking this idea more and more." Hannibal said, Jack staring at Chase Young.

"So when does the comet hit again?" Jack wondered.

"Three days." Chase Young smirked while heading towards the library. "So the monks better enjoy their last days of complete freedom because in three days they'll be removed from this earth...permanently." With that, Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack walked away, and Omi and Clay were left in awe.

"Dojo, what in tar nation is the Heylin Comet?" Clay wondered, Dojo giving the two monks an ominous look.

"The Heylin Comet is a Xiaolin warrior's worst nightmare." Dojo paused for effect before continuing. "And if the Heylin succeeds, the world will cease to exist as we know it." Those words were just enough for Omi and Clay to bite their lower lip and stare at each other. If the Heylin Comet was as bad as Dojo forewarned, then they were going to need all hands on deck for this one. And they were going to have to tell Raimundo and Kimiko the little tidbit they picked up when they were listening in on Jack Spicer.


	7. The Heylin Comet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dojo tells Omi, Clay, Raimundo and Kimiko about the Heylin Comet, which makes them realize the world is in grave danger. And when Hannibal Bean attacks the temple, Raimundo orders Kimiko to stay hidden, which puts a slight strain on their friendship.

Kimiko sat by the window of the mess hall as she looked down at the game console in her hand. After hearing about her being the object of Raimundo's weakness, she needed a moment to release her stress. Surely, Raimundo wasn't going to mind that she was trying to keep herself busy. She heard footsteps behind her but it wasn't enough to cause her to turn around. It wasn't until she heard someone clear her throat that she paused the game and turned around.

It was Raimundo, and he seemed uncertain for intruding.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Raimundo casually asked, Kimiko placing the console on the window sill.

"I was playing _Goo Zombies 8_." Kimiko admitted. "Sometimes playing video games allows me to clear my mind."

"Oh." Raimundo cleared his throat, sitting down in the chair next to her. He hesitated for a moment, noticing Kimiko was avoiding his gaze, and he couldn't help but feel it was sort of his fault. "Kimiko, you know I would never let anything happen to you, right?" Kimiko eventually stared at him, their eyes meeting for the first time since the conversation began.

"I know, I guess." Kimiko sighed. "Its just the Heylin wanting to take over the world has me on edge, and something tells me this time they might have the power to actually do so. Hannibal Bean and Chase Young are two of the most powerful villains in the world, and they sometimes worry me."

"Kimiko, I know you're a little scared about the Heylin and it's okay." Raimundo assured her, taking one of her hands as her face became soft. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared too."

"You? Scared?" Kimiko didn't sound convinced. "You're never scared of anything."

"That's not true." Raimundo shook his head, giving her hand a light squeeze. "I'm terrified of losing you." Kimiko felt her cheeks redden before Raimundo cleared his throat. " _And...Omi and...Clay_."

"Oh, well Omi, Clay and I wouldn't know what to do if it weren't for you." Kimiko shrugged her shoulders. "You always seem to have all the answers, and what we really like is you're not super serious all the time. The point I'm trying to make is, I'm terrified of losing you too." It was Raimundo's turn to blush before Kimiko sheepishly looked away. " _And Omi...and...Clay._ "

Raimundo and Kimiko once again stared at each other, but something caught Kimiko's interest as she recognized Dojo flying back down on temple grounds. She was glad that Omi and Clay had returned since she was able to prolong telling Raimundo about her feelings for a little while longer.

"Omi and Clay are back." Raimundo stated the obvious. Kimiko and Raimundo got up from their chairs and made their way towards their teammates. "Dudes, what's going on?"

"Raimundo, we heard the most terrible news." Omi sounded afraid while Clay stared at the dragon of wind.

"Chase Young is planning to use something called the Heylin Comet." Clay explained. "And according to Dojo, it's mighty bad."

"The Heylin Comet?" Kimiko stared down at the small dragon, Dojo realizing he had to explain sooner or later.

"Come on, we can't talk here. Spicer might have his robots listening in." Dojo said, the monks following him into the library. Dojo closed the door to the library and pulled out a nearby scroll, showing the Xiaolin monks a picture of an asteroid. "This is the Heylin Comet. Now, you're probably thinking this is just a normal comet that shoots across the sky."

"Let me guess? It's not?" Raimundo wondered, Dojo nodding his head.

"Bingo." Dojo pointed at the Shoku Warrior before showing more of the scroll. "1500 years ago, just after Hannibal Bean was able to turn Chase Young into a villain and Chase locked Hannibal in the Ying-Yang World, the Heylin Comet showed up and Chase Young became the most powerful villain in the world. Even more powerful than Wuya, and that's saying a lot. The Heylin Comet gives off radioactive energy and because of Chase Young's immortality and the soup, he was able to absorb the energy from the comet and become strong enough to destroy almost the entire world. Luckily, Grand Master Dashi stopped him before Chase Young did permanent damage, and used the Ruby of Ramses to move the comet so far away that it wouldn't cross the sky for another 1500 years. Unfortunately, the comet's come back and because of that, Chase Young is reviving his plan. But this time he has help. He's still trying to absorb energy from the comet, but it's almost like he's trying to double the amount he takes in. That's probably why he needed Jack Spicer's help, so Jack could build him some machine to make that into a reality."

"So you mean to tell me that the Heylin Comet is worse than the Heylin Seed?" Clay raised his hand and asked.

"Pretty much." Dojo answered. "The last thing you want is to give Chase Young all that power. He's already strong without it. Imagine with the comet."

"Is there a way we can stop the comet from happening?" Raimundo asked. "Maybe we can use the Ruby of Ramses again to move the comet."

"At the speed the comet is going, the Ruby of Ramses won't be able to stop it." Dojo said. "So that means our only hope now would be to prevent Chase Young from absorbing any of it's power."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Omi wondered, but before Dojo was able to respond, the monks heard a cat yowl outside, which forced the four of them to look out the window and spot one of Chase Young's jungle cat. "Whatever is Chase Young here for?"

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe to stop us before we stop him?" Raimundo furrowed his eyebrows at Omi's question, but Kimiko was already heading towards the door.

"Let's go stop him." Kimiko pointed, although Raimundo, Omi and Clay hesitated. "What? Why are you all just standing around?"

"Kimiko, I don't think it's the best idea that you go out there and fight." Raimundo told her, but hearing his words caused Kimiko to innocently blink at him.

"Why not?" Kimiko placed her hand on her hip. "We're a team, Raimundo. And last time I checked I was a part of this team."

"Yeah, but you're also the one Chase Young is after." Raimundo tried to reason. "That's why I don't think it's a good idea for you to go out there."

"Oh I get it. You think I'm a defenseless little girl, who can't stand up for herself." Kimiko huffed while looking away from him. "Just so you know, it's your fault that Chase Young is after me."

"My fault?" Raimundo pointed to himself while walking up to the dragon of fire. "How on earth is this my fault?"

"If you didn't feel the way you did, none of this would have happened." Kimiko sighed. "Raimundo, whether you like it or not, we're teammates. And as teammates we have to stick together. We either all go out there or we don't go out there at all." Raimundo was surprised that Kimiko was standing up to him, and when he looked at Omi and Clay for hopes of backup, the two monks sheepishly shrugged their shoulders.

"She's right, Raimundo." Clay agreed. "We are a team, and if just the three of us go out there, it won't be the same. We need Kimiko."

"I must agree with Clay." Omi added. "Kimiko is an important part of the team. Of course, I am the strongest monk of them all, and I could easily take Chase Young down myself. But Kimiko is a reliable asset."

Kimiko ignored Omi's comment as she gazed at Raimundo, realizing that his eyes were finally meeting hers after a moment of hesitation. Raimundo stood quiet for a moment, but once he heard another jungle cat, he firmly glanced at her and pointed to the library.

"Stay here." Raimundo told her, Kimiko unbelieving that Raimundo wasn't going to let her go out into battle.

"Raimundo!" Kimiko tried to argue, but he didn't want to hear it anymore.

"That's an order, Kimiko." Raimundo's voice was firm. He walked around her and started heading out of the library, his eyes darting towards Clay and Omi in the process. "Omi, Clay? Are you two coming or what?" Clay and Omi nodded their heads and walked away from Kimiko, but the dragon of fire was clenching her fist and her face was contorting into rage. She couldn't believe Raimundo out of all people was trying to keep her sheltered, but she didn't know why.

"The entire time I was at this stupid temple, I had to always prove myself to others, and it was mainly because I was a girl. But you always made me feel like I was part of the team, and that I was just as strong as you, or Omi or Clay. I don't need anyone treating me like I'm fine china and I can take care of myself!" Kimiko seethed, but her eyes sadly stared at Raimundo. "So I can't believe that you out of all people would treat me like the damsel in distress when really, I am just as strong as you are." Raimundo felt his heart sink as he saw the hurt in Kimiko's eyes, but he continuously told himself he was doing this because he didn't want to see her hurt.

And he was going to keep his promise, no matter how much it hurt her.

"Kimiko, I promise...I'm doing this for your own good." Raimundo sadly responded before he motioned for Clay and Omi to follow. "Omi, Clay. Let's go." Omi and Clay followed Raimundo out of the temple library as Kimiko stood there, all while Dojo was trying to find the words to say to her.

"Kimiko? I know that you're upset..." Dojo said which caused the dragon of fire to look down at him. "And I know Raimundo would never purposely hurt your feelings. I just have a feeling that he's like that with you because you hold a special place in his heart...a place that not even Omi and Clay can occupy."

"Oh yeah? And what place is that?" Kimiko sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Well, you're his closest friend that happens to be a girl." Dojo said. "And there weren't many Xiaolin warriors that were girls before you came along. He thinks he's doing the right thing by protecting you, but deep down we all know you're a terrific warrior. His feelings are just getting in the way right now."

"You're the next person to mention feelings." Kimiko sounded surprised. "First Omi and Clay, and now you."

"Well I don't know exactly how Raimundo feels about you, but I do know how you feel about him." Dojo climbed on Kimiko's shoulder, giving her a small smile. "You really _really_ like him. That's why you got so upset when he didn't let you go out there...because this isn't only about him keeping you away from battle, but you're not there to protect him." Kimiko stammered for a few moments, feeling her head hang low from Dojo's analysis.

"Maybe there _is_ a slight possibility that I like Raimundo more than a friend." Kimiko admitted to Dojo before she shook herself out of those thoughts. "But we all know Raimundo and I can never be in a relationship."

"Because you're afraid that it's going to impact your working relationship with not only each other but with Omi and Clay?" Dojo guessed.

"No..." Kimiko sighed, twiddling her thumbs at the process. "Because I don't _belong_ to anyone, and I'm afraid I'll lose part of my identity by falling in love with Raimundo."

"Ah, Grand Master Dashi had that same worry as well." Dojo smirked. "He vowed he was never going to fall in love with a woman because he was his own person...but guess what happened?"

"What?" Kimiko wondered, Dojo giving a light chuckle at her curiosity.

"He fell in love with someone while he was in town, and it was the happiest I had ever seen him." Dojo recollected the memory before his expression became blank. "Although, he later found out it was Wuya using her Heylin magic to portray someone else and that led to not only the first Xiaolin Showdown but Dashi swearing off women forever."

"Yeah, you're not really helping." Kimiko placed her hand on her hip with disbelief.

"Right. Look, the point I'm trying to make is you and Raimundo have known each other for a long time, and he's not going to turn evil and break your heart." Dojo said. "I mean, sure there was that time he went evil because Wuya persuaded him...and then he pretended to be evil as part of a plan he conjured up with Master Monk Guan. But, Raimundo is on the side of good...and he's not going to do anything that would hurt his team, specifically you." Kimiko folded her hands in front of her and blushed at the thought of Raimundo protecting her, but at the same time she was also a warrior, and she could take care of herself.

"Yeah, but me not being there to protect _him_ kills me." Kimiko muttered, although her eyes locked on a scroll that was sitting on the table. "Dojo?"

"Yes?" Dojo noticed Kimiko walking towards the scroll that had information on the Heylin Comet.

"Maybe there is a way to protect Raimundo..." Kimiko pondered while holding the scroll with her hand. "Not with my fists...but with my brain..."

"That's the spirit!" Dojo proudly smiled at the monk. Kimiko scanned through the scroll again, and as she read it, she got an idea.

"Dojo? How exactly _did_ Grand Master Dashi stop Chase Young the first time...?"

* * *

Omi, Clay and Raimundo rushed through the halls of the Xiaolin temple, hoping to avoid the horde of jungle cats that were most likely guarding the outside of the temple. Raimundo couldn't believe that he had gotten into an argument with Kimiko over her well-being, and he had never seen her that upset with him before. Sure, there were times that she was disappointed in him, but this moment surely took the cake. Omi and Clay realized Raimundo seemed a bit distracted, and they didn't have to guess why he was so upset.

"Rai, is everything okay?" Clay's question forced Raimundo to turn around and stare at his friend, but there was a sense of hesitance coming from the dragon of wind.

"Kimiko's gonna forgive me, right?" Raimundo asked, Omi and Clay nodding their heads slowly.

"Of course she's gonna forgive you, partner." Clay answered, Raimundo running a hand through his hair. "She knows you were only acting squirrely because you care about her."

 "It's more than that." Raimundo sighed. "If _anything_ happened to Kimiko and there was something I could have done to stop it, I would never forgive myself. She's right about it being my fault that Chase Young is after her. She could die at the hands of the Heylin, all because Chase Young knows it's a way to get to me."

"Raimundo, you mustn't blame yourself." Omi assured him. "We cannot help the way we feel. Especially since Jack Spicer, Hannibal Roy Bean and Chase Young are aware of your affections towards Kimiko." Raimundo looked down at his feet, trying to avoid the dragon of water's gaze.

"So I'm guessing you guys figured it out, huh?" Raimundo muttered, Omi and Clay nodding their heads towards their teammate.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out, partner." Clay couldn't help but softly smile. "You've been crushing on Kimiko for as long as we can remember."

"Yeah, but I don't _just_ have a crush on her anymore." Raimundo stared at Omi and Clay, his face expression appearing defenseless. " _I love her_. And I'm scared to lose her before I get the chance to tell her how I really feel."

"But having her hide out while we're doing all the fighting isn't helping matters, partner. The truth of the matter is, eventually you have to tell her or else you're always going to regret not knowing what would have happened if you did." Raimundo knew Clay was right, but he just couldn't bring himself to say so. Luckily, Raimundo didn't have to elaborate when a jungle cat happened to find them, forcing the boys to turn and get into a defensive position.

"Well, well, if it isn't another jungle cat?" Raimundo sneered. 

"Raimundo, there appears to be a flea on the top of the jungle cat." Omi pointed towards the little speck on the jungle cats head. However, Raimundo and Clay knew better than to think it was merely a flea.

"That's not a flea, little buddy." Clay furrowed his eyebrows.

"That's Hannibal Bean." Raimundo added.

"You know, I was expecting to be welcomed with open arms." Hannibal taunted. "How rude to not be hospitable to your guest."

"Hannibal, don't you guys ever give up?" Raimundo couldn't help but roll his eyes as the small bean.

"No we don't." Hannibal smirked. "Now, we came to get you brats out of the way so we can continue on with our plan. But we can't do that if you continue to try to play hero."

"Hannibal Bean, it is time for you to face a humiliating defeat!" Omi yelled, taking out his elemental Shen Gong Wu. "Shimo Staff! Wudai Neptune--" Omi didn't get a chance to unleash his move, since Hannibal grabbed the young monk and threw him into the wall. Raimundo and Clay gazed with concern, the two of them running over to their fallen comrade.

"Omi, are you okay?" Raimundo asked.

"Oh...that was _most_ painful." Omi groaned as he slowly sat up, Hannibal giving the Xiaolin monks an evil grin.

"So, who's next?" Hannibal smirked.

"There's no way we can defeat Hannibal one-on-one." Clay whispered to Raimundo and Omi. "We're going to have to combine our strength to stop it."

"I agree, Clay. And I know just the move to stop that bean once and for all." Omi nodded his head, the three boys immediately standing up. " _Wudai Orion Formation!_ " Omi yelled. The boys got into position, but they quickly found out the move wasn't going to work when a jungle cat plowed into them and forced Omi, Clay and Raimundo to slam against the wall. Clay, Omi and Raimundo fell into the floor while groaning in pain all while Hannibal let out a maniacal laugh. The boys tried to gather every ounce of strength to stop Hannibal Bean, but their bodies felt as if they were on fire.

"It didn't work." Raimundo let out a painful moan as Clay rubbed the back of his neck.

"Of course it didn't, partner. We can't do Wudai Orion Formation without Kimiko." Clay sounded winded from the previous jungle cat attack.

"You know, I do find it very interesting that there's only three of you fighting." Hannibal Bean chortled. "Where's Kimiko? I'm sure Chase Young is _dying_ to see her."

"Why? So you, Chase Young and Jack Spicer can use her for your own gain?" Raimundo spat out. "I don't think so."

"Oh Raimundo, if only you weren't so stubborn." Hannibal Bean snapped his little fingers as Chase Young's jungle cats surrounded the boys. If Omi, Clay and Raimundo weren't in trouble before, they certainly were in trouble now. "Jungle cats... _kill them_." The jungle cats licked their lips as they surrounded the boys, their claws slowly coming out of their hands and their eyes giving the monks a deathly stare.

"Well, I've always wanted to die at the hands of a jungle cat." Raimundo sardonically stated, although Omi didn't understand Raimundo's sarcasm.

"Why would you want to die from jungle cats?" Omi asked.

"Sarcasm, Omi. Sarcasm." Raimundo simply corrected him. The jungle cats were about to lunge towards the boys, until...

" _TANGLED WEB COMB!_ " The jungle cats were tried up with the hair-like fabric that shot out of the Shen Gong Wu, and once the cats were tied up, the boys peered over and noticed Kimiko holding the Shen Gong Wu. While Raimundo was happy to see her, he remembered that he had given her an order and she had disobeyed him.

"I thought I told you to stay in the library." Raimundo's eyebrows creased. Luckily, Kimiko could play at that game as well.

"A thank you, would have been nice." Kimiko scowled at him. "Especially since you were about to get your butt handed to you by a bunch of jungle cats."

"Well, if it isn't the guest of honor?" Hannibal Bean stared at the dragon of fire, forcing Kimiko to stare at the little bean. "I hate to interrupt your lovers quarrel..."

"We're not lovers." Kimiko and Raimundo said in unison, although Raimundo's cheeks turned a bright pink while avoiding his teammate's gaze.

"Whatever." Hannibal scoffed. "Kimiko, I hope you don't take this personally, but you don't realize that you're the key to us finally ruling the world. You're what stands in our way of finally unlocking the powers of the Heylin Comet, and you don't want to stand in our way, do you? So you have two options...you can leave your friends as the Xiaolin Temple, and join us...or you can choose your friends and you'll die along with them. It's your choice, really." Kimiko stared at Omi, Raimundo and Clay before her eyes darted to the small bean, her hands lighting up with fire.

"I will _never_ join you!" Kimiko shouted at Hannibal Bean, her body engulfing with rage. "You give Chase Young a little message for me: tell him we're coming after him, and we're going to stop him, just like we've stopped him a million times before!" Kimiko unleashed a fire attack towards Hannibal, but before the bean could burn in the inferno, Ying-Ying swooped down and rescued his master, flying him up in the air and heading out of the temple.

"And I got a message for you! Once we unleash the power of the Heylin Comet, you'll be dead! _DEAD!_ " With that, Hannibal Bean left the temple, all while Kimiko stared up with at the night sky. Her eyebrows her furrowed and her hands were still shaking from the anger that coursed in her body. Raimundo slowly got up from the floor and walked over to Kimiko, placing a hand on her shoulder with hopes it would calm her down. Kimiko brushed off Raimundo's hand as she turned away from her teammates, heading to the library where she was supposed to be in the first place. Raimundo, Omi and Clay noticed the hurt look on their comrade's face, and all Raimundo could focus on was his guilt.

"I messed up...big time." Raimundo said while staring at his teammates, but Omi and Clay didn't have to tell Raimundo twice.

He just hoped that Kimiko could forgive him.


	8. Devising A Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kimiko unveils her findings about how to stop the Heylin from using the full power of the Heylin Comet, which leads to the monks planning their final attack.

A couple minutes later, Kimiko led Omi, Clay and Raimundo back into the library, with Omi closing the door behind him. As Kimiko looked through the scrolls, she glanced up at her friends, realizing they were all simply staring at her. She had a feeling it was because she had lost her temper with Hannibal Bean, but knew there was more to it when Raimundo intently stared at her, almost as if he was about to scold her for not listening to his orders.

"Kimiko, do you have any idea what would have happened if Hannibal Bean did something to you?" Raimundo crossed his arms, but his stern expression only earned a glare from the dragon of fire. "We appreciate you saving us, but you didn't listen to me when I said for you to stay here."

"You know, instead of scolding me like I'm five, how about you thank me for saving you?" Kimiko huffed in return. "You guys were paralyzed while those jungle cats were about to attack you, and I didn't hear one thank you from any of you. Without me, you probably would have been dead. Just face it, you're embarrassed that I had to come and save you, so you're trying to flip the tables on me."

"That has nothing to do with that, Kimiko." Raimundo responded.

"Wait, I better exit the room if Kimiko and Raimundo are going to flip tables." Omi interjected. "It will be most messy."

"No, they're not literally going to flip tables, Omi." Clay told his friend. "It's a figure of speech."

"Speech has a figure?" Omi once again raised his eyebrows, but Kimiko let out an annoyed groan at her friend.

"Well, while you guys were trying to prevent me from _getting hurt_ , Dojo and I did some research." Kimiko opened a scroll and showed it to the boys. "There is a way to stop the Heylin Comet. Can anyone guess how?" Clay, Omi and Raimundo stared at the scroll, Omi finally raising his hand.

"Ooh, I believe I know!" Omi sounded excited as Kimiko couldn't help but chuckle. "It is a Ying and Yang sign!"

"Which means we'd have to go to the Ying-Yang World to get the antidote." Clay added.

"How exactly does that work?" Raimundo raised an eyebrow as Kimiko once again peered through the school.

"The last time the Heylin Comet hit, Grand Master Dashi went into the Ying-Yang World and found Chase Young's good chi. The good chi helped balance out the bad chi which was mixed with Heylin magic from the comet." Kimiko explained. "So we'd have to get the good chi from Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer if we want to stop those three from using the comet to destroy the world."

"Hannibal really meant it when he said he wanted you gone, didn't he?" Clay wondered, Kimiko nodding her head slowly.

"That's why I have to take them out before they take us out." Kimiko answered. "Omi, can you and Clay do me a favor and go check to see if the Ying and Yang Yo-Yo are in the Shen Gong Wu vault. We're going to need both if we're going to go into the Ying-Yang World."

"But of course, Kimiko." Omi nodded his head as he and Clay left the library, but there was one question on Omi's mind. "Why did Kimiko not give Raimundo a task to accomplish?"

"Because with my bet little buddy, they're going to talk about some things." Clay replied as the two of them went down the hall. As soon as Omi and Clay were out of earshot, Kimiko placed the scroll where it belonged. But Raimundo knew he had to speak with her, especially after all that transpired between them.

"That was some smart thinking to look through the scrolls." Raimundo said, although Kimiko didn't turn around. "Now we know how to stop Chase Young."

"Raimundo, just..." Kimiko shook her head before turning to face him, the two of them staring eye-to-eye. "I get what you're doing...but stop. You're trying to make me feel like I'm a valuable part of the team so it will clear your conscience."

"That's not the reason I'm doing it." Raimundo crossed his arms. "You are an important part of the team, Kimiko. I just wish you would understand why I didn't want you to get involved with Hannibal Bean and Chase Young's jungle cats."

"Then explain it to me, Raimundo." Kimiko raised an eyebrow, walking closer to him. "Why didn't you want me to go out there when you know that I'm a reliable asset to the team."

"Because if you came face to face with Chase Young, you'd probably be dead." Raimundo argued.

"So you don't believe I can beat him?" Kimiko continued to stand her ground, which was beginning to frustrate Raimundo.

"Chase Young is not going to play fair!" Raimundo yelled. "He's going to do everything he can to split us up and crush you! He's going to make sure you're good and dead, and there would be nothing I can do to bring you back! I would _lose_ you, Kimiko...and I don't want to lose you! You're more important to me than being Shoku warrior...and being team leader means a lot to me." Raimundo felt his voice go soft as he looked down at his feet. "I don't know want to ever think about losing you, because I would never forgive myself for not saving you." Kimiko softly stared at him as she walked over and placed a hand on his arm in a reassuring manner.

"Raimundo, getting in trouble is part of being a Xiaolin warrior...and while I appreciate you looking out for me and caring about me enough to make sure I don't die against the Heylin, it's a chance I have to take." Kimiko noticed Raimundo's defenseless expression glancing at her, and she did her best to get through to him by flashing a big smile. "You're always protecting me, Omi and Clay, but I would never forgive myself if I wasn't out there protecting _you_. I can't stand to think I could lose you because you have [chronic hero syndrome](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChronicHeroSyndrome)..." Raimundo chuckled at that part of her sentence before he flashed a smile in return.

"I'm sorry, Kimiko." Raimundo softly said. "I never wanted to hurt you, but I was just trying to figure out a way to protect you without you having to go out there."

"While I didn't like the idea, I understand why you did what you did." Kimiko squeezed his arm tightly as they continued to lock eyes. "I'm sorry too."

"I know." Raimundo replied as he thought about getting his feelings out in the open. But instead, he decided to take a different approach. "I want you to know that you are a very important part of this team...and we were completely lost without you out there. It was a good thing you showed up when you did."

"Well, I had to show up on time for _something_." Kimiko jested while Raimundo gave her a hug. Kimiko was surprised of the hug, but she melted into it and wrapped her arms around his waist in return. The two of them stayed in their hug for a little too long, since Master Fung entered the room and saw the dragon of wind and fire a little too close for comfort.

"So I take it Hannibal Bean has been temporarily defeated after delivering threats on your lives." Master Fung's voice was enough to knock Raimundo and Kimiko out of their own bubble, the two of them parting the hug in the process. Master Fung tried his hardest to not smile, and instead kept the straight look on his face. "I'm glad the two of you were able to work out your predicaments, because you're going to need to work together if you're going to take down Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer." Raimundo and Kimiko stared at each other before glancing at Master Fung. "I must speak with all of you monks. I know it's not the best time considering evil is lurking outside the temple, but I want to be aware of your plan before you place it into action." Kimiko and Raimundo followed Master Fung out of the library, with hopes of telling them their plan. They just needed a place that was off limits to the Heylin.

* * *

 A few moments later, Master Fung had gathered all the monks in the Heylin Seed Chamber, believing that it was the only place they could talk about the Heylin Comet without the Heylin listening. Kimiko finished doing a scan of potential spyware in the chamber before her PDA gave her the all-clear, and allowed Master Fung to talk.

"As you are all aware, there is a new threat on our hands." Master Fung stated "The last time the Heylin Comet hit, the world almost fell into the hands of evil. This is something we cannot allow. We must stop Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer from unleashing the Heylin Comet, as not even they understand the dangers of what they're about to do."

"Who knew Jack would be a big threat?" Clay questioned.

"I never thought I would eye the night." Omi responded.

"See the day." Clay corrected the young monk. Master Fung kept his eyes on Omi and Clay for a moment before he closed them and thought of the potential dangers that could occur from the Heylin Comet.

"The forces at the Xiaolin Temple must be intact, and you four must stop Chase Young from destroying the world. It will be extremely difficult, but it isn't impossible, and you four are the right monks for the task." Master Fung concluded. For some reason, that answer wasn't good enough for some of the Xiaolin Monks.

"But what if we _don't_ stop Chase Young and what if the world _is_ doomed?" Raimundo asked. Master Fung was a bit shocked that Raimundo would ask such a question, but he realized that in one way or another, he was right to be concerned.

"Do you have doubts in yourself, Raimundo?" Master Fung asked.

"Not in us as a team, Master Fung, but what about Chase Young? What if we somehow don't get to them in time and he finds a way to rule the world?" Raimundo wondered.

"A Xiaolin Warrior must never fear the worst, but must be prepared for the worst possible outcome." Master Fung placed a hand on Raimundo's shoulder, which caused the dragon of wind to glance at his teacher with worry. 

"We can do this." Kimiko said, as the boys all locked eyes on her. "Do you know how many times we've defeated evil and always came out on top? Remember, there was the whole Wuya ruling the world thing, and Chase Young trying to keep Omi as a jungle pet while dooming the entire world, and then there was the time that Omi went back in time and accidentally turned Master Monk Guan evil..."

"Yes Kimiko, I am well aware of my failures and am aware they have cost me becoming Shoku Warrior." Omi gritted his teeth, although Clay and Raimundo knew that wasn't the point Kimiko was trying to make.

"The point is we're stronger than Chase Young, even if it doesn't seem that way right now." Kimiko crossed her arms. "As long as we work together as a team, we can find a way to win, no matter how scary the outcome could be." Raimundo, Omi and Clay innocently blinked at her as Master Fung smiled proudly at the dragon of fire. He couldn't have said it better himself.

"Well said, Kimiko." Master Fung nodded his head at her. "Now, prepare yourself young monks, because the fate of the world is in your hands."

"You know, it seems like you tell them that every day." Dojo raised his eyebrow as he was perched on Master Fung's shoulder. "You're more repetitive than Grand Master Dashi."

"Being repetitive helps young warriors understand the message." Master Fung smirked at the dragon before turning his attention to the monks. "So young monks, what is your plan?"

"We're going to go into the Ying-Yang World to find the good chi of Jack Spicer, Hannibal Bean and Chase Young." Clay answered.

"It's the same tactic Dashi used 1500 years ago when Chase Young absorbed the powers of the Heylin Seed." Kimiko added.

"While the plan seems smart, all of you going into the Ying-Yang World opens a door for Chase Young to put his plan into action." Master Fung reminded them. "Who was it that found out abut Dashi's findings?"

"Well, I have always been an expert in Grand Master Dashi." Omi chuckled although Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo gave Omi an annoyed look. 

"It was Kimiko." Raimundo answered, causing Omi to glance down at his shoes.

"Kimiko, you will go into the Ying-Yang World and retrieve the good chi for Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer." Master Fung told her, but as Kimiko glanced at her friends, she couldn't help but worry.

"A...alone?" Kimiko let out a light gulp, although Master Fung gave her a reassuring glance at her nervousness.

"Of course not, young monk." Master Fun said. "Raimundo will go with you." Raimundo appeared uncertain about Master Fung's plan, but before he was able to voice his concerns, Omi raised his hand in haste.

"I do not understand, Master Fung." Omi said. "If Kimiko and Raimundo are going into the Ying-Yang World, then what shall I do?"

"Along with me, partner?" Clay tried not to sound annoyed while Omi dismissively waved a hand.

"You and Clay will stake out Chase Young's palace." Master Fung answered. "If you hear more information regarding Chase Young's plans, then it is important that you tell your fellow monks. You are a team, and the only way you will be able to defeat Chase Young is if you work together."

"That is a most brilliant idea, Master Fung! I will need Clay there when I take down Chase Young with my crouching cougar!" Omi's ego caused Clay to roll his eyes at his teammate.

 "No fighting." Master Fung told Omi which perplexed him. "If you're going to take down Chase Young you must observe your opponent before you strike."

 "Yeah, Grand Master Dashi went into a battle against the Heylin Seed 1500 years ago..." Dojo started to say, but Master Fung glared at the small dragon, causing him to stop what he was going to say. "Nothing."

 "Don't worry, we'll take down Chase Young." Raimundo assured his teacher as Master Fung bowed to them.

 "Now, I would prepare for your separate missions if I were you." Master Fung said while the monks bowed back. "The fate of the world is in your hands." With that, Master Fung left the Heylin Seed vault, and the monks were left alone.

 "So what do we do first?" Clay wondered.

 "It would be wise if we stocked up on Shen Gong Wu." Omi told the dragon of earth. "Although, I am unsure what the Shen Gong Wu will do at a moment like this."

 "Yeah, we're going to need the Ying and Yang yo-yo if we're going to go into the Ying-Yang World." Kimiko agreed, but Raimundo caught her attention when he cleared his throat at her.

 "How about I go with Omi and Clay to stock up on Wu and you...go talk to Dojo in the courtyard." Raimundo said, earning him a perplexed look from Kimiko.

 "Are you trying to 'keep me out of danger' again?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow. "Because last time I checked, I can take care of myself."

 "No, no." Raimundo immediately answered. "I'm not trying to keep you in danger. I just...need you to talk to Dojo about how Dashi found Chase Young's chi the last time. That way when we go in the Ying-Yang World, we can be prepared." Kimiko's defensive attitude decreased after she heard Raimundo's reasoning, and figured maybe it was a good idea that she spoke to Dojo.

 "All right, that sounds like a plan." Kimiko said while leaving the Heylin Seed vault. As soon as Kimiko left, Clay and Omi raised an eyebrow towards the Shoku Warrior, wondering what Raimundo was up to.

 "Partner, what in tar nation was that about?" Clay asked. 

 "Yes, you are well aware how to find the good chi." Omi added. "Why are you presuming the role of even?"

 "Acting odd." Clay corrected the dragon of water.

 "That as well." Omi pointed to Clay without staring back at him. Raimundo made sure Kimiko wasn't come back into the vault before he leaned closer to Omi and Clay.

 "Guys, if we let Kimiko go out into battle, she's going to get herself killed." Raimundo whispered. "You heard Hannibal Bean. Chase Young wants to get Kimiko out of the picture, but I don't know _why_. I don't want to take any chances. I say that just the three of us should go into battle, just so she's not in danger."

 "But Partner, we can't just keep Kimiko out in the cold." Clay reasoned with him. "Like Master Fung said, we're a team."

 "And as a team, we should be agreeing that Chase Young is after Kimiko. We don't know why though, and I don't want to be the one that has to see my teammate suffer." Raimundo straightened himself out while heading towards the exit, but Omi wasn't quite done with him yet.

 "Raimundo, please you must understand..., although _The Ancient Guide To Females_ suggests that boys are superior to girls, Kimiko is still a Xiaolin warrior." Omi saw Raimundo lower his guard for a moment which gave him hope that he was getting through to the dragon of wind. "She is well aware of the troubles that come with fighting the Heylin and we are not as strong if she is on the sidelines. Please reconsider it Raimundo. Why do you not want her to fight."

 "You wouldn't understand." Raimundo shouted, although Omi and Clay raised an eyebrow at one another.

 "Try us." Clay tested the Shoku Warrior.

 "I should not have to explain to you why I don't want her to fight Chase Young." Raimundo decided to skirt around his feelings for the dragon of fire, but Clay knew exactly what this was about.

 "Raimundo, you have to put your feelings for Kimiko to the side for a minute and realize that she can take care of herself. She's the one that saved our butts against Hannibal Bean and she's probably going to do it again. I get you love the girl, and that's great...but you have to stop underestimating her. For all we know, she could be the one saving the day here. You just have to trust her." Clay's words cut through Raimundo like a knife, but instead of answering back to Clay, he left the room and closed the door behind him. Omi and Clay hoped they had gotten through to him and realize that Kimiko was just as vital to the team as they all were...and that they weren't ever going to let anything happen to her.


	9. The Ying-Yang World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Omi, Clay and Dojo plan a counterattack at Chase Young's palace, Raimundo and Kimiko travel into the Ying-Yang World, where they try to find Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer's good chi. Unfortunately, they also encounter Good Jack Spicer.

Raimundo trudged into the Shen Gong Wu Vault to grab some of the Shen Gong Wu he was going to need to enter the Ying-Yang World, as he thought about his conversation with Omi and Clay regarding Kimiko. Maybe Omi and Clay were right. Maybe Kimiko _was_ strong enough to take on Chase Young...and maybe the one not strong enough was him. He didn't want to see any of his team get hurt or killed, because he knew he would never forgive himself if something bad happened. But there was something about Kimiko...he had a bond to her like no other. Maybe it was because their elements fueled each other, or that they truly understood each other, especially in areas Omi and Clay couldn't fully understand. He wanted to be able to tell her the truth..., but what were the chances Kimiko would ever fall for a guy like him?

 "Omi and Clay don't understand." Raimundo said so that no one would hear him. "Kimiko can get hurt..., but if I tell her why, then she'll think I'm silly."

 "Raimundo, are you down here?" A voice snapped Raimundo out of his thoughts as he saw Dojo slithering down, and he only hoped the little dragon didn't hear everything he said.

 "Dojo!" Raimundo sounded surprised before he furrowed his eyebrows. "How long were you down here?"

 "Down here long enough to know that you got into an argument with Omi and Clay?" Dojo raised an eyebrow which caused Raimundo to grumble. "So how about you tell Dojo everything that happened."

 "We were were arguing about Kimiko. Happy?" Raimundo scoffed, but Dojo was actually more intrigued.

 "Ooh, color me intrigued!" Dojo slithered onto Raimundo's shoulder as the dragon of wind peered at the small dragon, wondering why Dojo was suddenly interested in what had him so down. "So, tell me everything."

 "Okay, so I don't think Kimiko should go and fight Chase Young." Raimundo got straight to the point, but it caused Dojo to cross his arms.

 "You've officially lost your mind." Dojo replied.

 "No, I haven't." Raimundo shook his head, although Dojo remembered the conversation he had with Kimiko back in the library. It wasn't possible...

 "Raimundo, do you mind if I nitpick your brain for a minute?" Dojo asked, but before Raimundo could say no, Dojo pulled a set of glasses from his back pocket and placed them on. He then grabbed a pen and paper and started jotting down notes. "Okay, so, I'm wondering if it's possible, and you can say yes or no, if you don't want Kimiko to fight because you're worried that you won't be able to protect her."

 "Do I have to answer?" Raimundo asked.

 "Yes, and I prefer you either use yes or no." Dojo nodded his head. "Oh and don't lie, because I'll know." Raimundo groaned and leaned his head against the wall, not wanting Dojo to see the look on his face.

 "Yes." Raimundo muttered.

 "I'm sorry, what was that?" Dojo leaned closer.

 "I said, YES!" Raimundo yelled this time.

 "Okay, geesh. No need to cause me to lose my hearing." Dojo stuck his pinky inside his ear as he tried to get the ringing noise out. As soon as he was sure he could completely hear again, he continued on. "Raimundo, I had this conversation with Kimiko back at the library, and she said she doesn't want to sit on the sidelines because if you're trying to protect her, then who is protecting you?"

 "Wait a minute, she said that?" Raimundo became intrigued as Dojo nodded his head.

 "Oh yeah, she did." Dojo chortled. "We talked about you a lot, I mean you were like the topic of our whole conversation."

 "What did she say about me?" Raimundo tried not to sound excited as he questioned the dragon. "Did she say anything that I think I might be interested in?"

 "Yep, especially the part where she said she really likes you." Dojo casually blurted out until he realized what he said. Both Dojo and Raimundo were stunned--Dojo from revealing a little too much and Raimundo from Dojo's revelation.

 "She likes me?" Raimundo pointed a finger at himself. "Like really, really likes me?"

 "I was not supposed to tell you that." Dojo cleared his throat before jumping down and putting his glasses away. "I'm afraid I've said too much."

 "Dojo, please just tell me." Raimundo said, lowering himself to Dojo's level. "Was there more to the conversation than her just saying she liked me?"

 "Okay, if I tell you, will you promise not to say a word?" Dojo asked.

 "Deal." Raimundo agreed before Dojo continued.

 "She said that she really likes you, but she doesn't want to admit it." Dojo said, which caused Raimundo to scratch his head in confusion. "She said it was something about her not feeling independent, and she's afraid that you're going to act...well, the way you're acting now. You're treating her like fine china instead of her being part of the team, and the only way she knows it's going to work is if you tone it down and actually let her take on Chase Young with you guys. She's a lot stronger than you think."

 "Clay said the same thing." Raimundo muttered before focusing on the matter at hand. "I don't mean to, it's just..."

 "She's a part of the team, Raimundo." Dojo reminded him. "And if you want any chance of making her your girlfriend, you have to treat her the same as you did before, but letting her fight her own battles and protect her teammates." Raimundo stood up from his position and grabbed the Ying and Yang yo-yo, shrugging his shoulders as he started to make his way out of the Shen Gong Wu vault.

 "I'll consider it." Raimundo said before leaving the vault, but as he made his way to the courtyard, he felt conflicting emotions. Maybe, there was a possibility Dojo was right. Maybe he had to treat Kimiko the same in order for her to realize that she was a vital part of the team. But his main concern was losing her, which was something he didn't want to come face to face with.

* * *

 Raimundo walked along the courtyard and saw Kimiko staring down at her PDA, almost as if she was deep in thought. He had to remember to keep cool. He didn't want what Dojo said about Kimiko's feelings to slip out, or else she'd never trust the dragon again.

 "Hey!" Raimundo saw Kimiko look up from her PDA in order to flash him a warm smile. "What are you doing?"

 "Jack wanted to try to hack into our temple? So I'm going to hack into Chase Young's palace." Kimiko sounded determined as she went back to her PDA. "That way we'll be one step ahead of Chase Young, and we can strike when he least expects it."

 "Nice!" Raimundo gave her a high-five, but they weren't expecting their fingers to intertwine mid-high five. Kimiko felt her cheeks turn a crimson red as Raimundo cleared his throat, the two of them eventually pulling their hands way.

 "That was...um... _interesting_." Kimiko eventually found the courage to speak while the color fades from her cheeks.

 "I didn't exactly plan for _that_ to happen." Raimundo sheepishly responded, although he noticed she was smiling at him.

 "It's okay. No worries." Kimiko tried to brush it off, but her heart was beating a mile a minute. She remembered what she was doing and her eyes went back to the PDA screen, but the both of them were taken out of their thoughts when they saw Omi, Clay and Dojo making their way towards them.

 "Do you have the Ying and Yang Yo-Yo?" Dojo wanted to make sure, with Raimundo holding up the Shen Gong Wu.

 "Yeah, were ready." Raimundo said but the way he said it made him sound like he was _nervous_.

 "Good luck guys." Dojo smiled.

 "If you need us, we'll be at Chase Young's palace obtaining filth!" Omi declared.

 "Getting dirt." Clay corrected his friend.

 "All right, just be careful." Dojo sighed as he, Omi and Clay flew off into the sky. As soon as they were gone, Raimundo and Kimiko faced each other, with Kimiko realizing that Raimundo was a little concerned.

"Rai, don't worry. We can do this." Kimiko assured him. Raimundo relaxed as he stared at the Shen Gong Wu in his hand, flicking it with his wrist as if he was going to use a toy yo-yo.

"Ying Yo-Yo!" Raimundo yelled the Shen Gong Wu's name. As he used the Shen Gong Wu, a parallel universe appeared and Raimundo and Kimiko jumped in, entering the Ying-Yang World.

* * *

Even for a Xiaolin Warrior that has seen everything, the Ying-Yang World still came as a surprise. It was the world that anything could happen, where the laws of physics couldn't apply. It was where Hannibal Bean was once locked up because Chase Young double-crossed him in order to be the most powerful warrior of them. all. It was where the good and the bad existed for all, hence why you needed two Shen Gong Wu in order to enter the Ying-Yang world or be forced to leave your predominant chi behind. Whenever someone entered the Ying-Yang World, they felt like a tourist, which was exactly how Raimundo and Kimiko felt as they walked along the path of nothingness in order to find the chi bottles.

"This is taking forever." Raimundo groaned as Kimiko glanced up at him. "We have no idea where we're going."

 "I know." Kimiko grumbled. "The last time that Dojo was here, he said that he found the chi bottles in some kind of supermarket-type aisle. The only problem is, I don't see an aisle anywhere. It's just a bunch of nothing."

"We need to ask someone for directions." Raimundo declared.

"I'm surprised, Raimundo." Kimiko sounded impressed.

 "What, that my idea was a good one?" Raimundo puffed his chest while crossing his arms as Kimiko walked past him.

 "No, that you're not ashamed to ask for directions...considering you're a guy." Kimiko chuckled, and it caused Raimundo's ego to slightly deflate.

 "Do my eyes deceive me?!" A voice caught Kimiko and Raimundo's attention, but not in a good way.

 "Oh no." Raimundo muttered.

 "Oh yes..." Kimiko closed her eyes as she pulled him by the hand. "Come on. Maybe if we keep walking and pretend we don't hear him, he'll leave us alone."

"Kimiko! Raimundo! Your back!" Kimiko and Raimundo stopped in their tracks as they turned around, wincing at the person that was _skipping_ towards them. It was Good Jack Spicer..., the one person everyone dreaded to see. Good Jack made Jack seem tolerable, and that was saying something. As soon as Good Jack reached Kimiko and Raimundo, he gave them a hug, but Raimundo immediately tried to push Good Jack away from him.

"Not now, Good Jack! Were here for a very important mission." Raimundo grumbled.

"Ooh! A mission!" Jack clapped his hands and started jumping up and down. "Can I help? Can I help? Can I?"

"No, no we don't need your help." Raimundo started walking around Good Jack, but Kimiko immediately went after him.

"Raimundo...maybe Good Jack _knows_ where to find the good chi?" Kimiko hesitantly suggested.

"Are you saying you want his help?" Raimundo turned around to face the dragon of fire.

"Well, he _is_ our only hope of getting out of here in time to stop Chase Young." Kimiko shrugged her shoulders. Raimundo stared back at Good Jack who was batting his eyelashes at them before his eyes darted to Kimiko.

"I hate when you're right." Raimundo sighed, slowly trudging towards Good Jack. "On second thought, yeah...we need your help."

"Oh _goody!_ " Good Jack clapped his hands and started twirling around, but Raimundo stopped him by grabbing the back of his shirt and holding him up.

"We're not going to twirl around." Raimundo pointed a finger at Good Jack while Kimiko crossed her arms.

"So we need to find Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer's good chi." Kimiko said, earning Good Jack's attention. "Do you know where we can find it?"

"I can take you there! I know _exactly_ where it is!" Good Jack smiled. Raimundo placed Good Jack on the floor as Good Jack started walking down the path. Raimundo and Kimiko had no choice but to follow, and unfortunately they knew at some point Good Jack was going to try their patience.

"Gee, thanks." Kimiko said it in a monotone voice, which Raimundo happened to think was funny.

"Hey, it's your fault for saying that we needed his help." Raimundo playfully shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead of her. All he heard behind him was Kimiko grumbling, and he couldn't help but chuckle in return. She was _already_ regretting her choice.

"Now, I'm sure that you know what my evil self is planning." Good Jack started. Raimundo perked up and listened, hoping that Good Jack was going to say something of use.

"The Heylin Comet?" Raimundo took a guess.

"Yes! Now, the Heylin Comet is creepy, but my evil self isn't the one that you should be worried about." Good Jack instructed. "Chase Young and Hannibal Bean are the ones that are the masterminds. They're just using my evil self for his robotics skills."

"Although his robots are completely garbage." Raimundo muttered as Kimiko nodded her head.

"You better not let him hear you. He'll get really mad!" Good Jack sang the last part of the sentence, which forced Kimiko to slap the top of her forehead.

"Yeah, I am so regretting this." Kimiko let out a tired sigh. Luckily for her, there was a bright light and as soon as Kimiko and Raimundo looked up, they noticed the supermarket-like aisle Dojo was telling them about.

"There are the chi bottles, now go and save the world!" Good Jack pointed and instead of walking away, he danced. Raimundo shook his head, not wanting to see that ever again, in his life.

"Okay, we need to find Chase, Hannibal's and Jack Spicer's. So let's split up." Raimundo said. Kimiko followed him into the Chi market and looked through all the bottles. Raimundo had found Chase Young's, which looked like it was filled to the top, since he did used to be good approximately 1500 years ago. In another portion of the market, Kimiko found Hannibal's which happened to be really small and tiny, which happened to explain why there was no good in him. As soon as they found one of each, they teamed up to find Jack's, but there was a problem. Jack Spicer's good chi was nowhere to be found.

"There's no good chi for Jack." Kimiko said. Raimundo had finished looking through the last aisle and leaned against one of the aisles in defeat. However, his eyes darted up and he saw Good Jack dancing, which made him realize _why_ there was no good chi bottle for Jack.

"You know what, Kimiko. You're right. And do you know why there's no good chi for Jack?" Raimundo asked.

"No, why?" Kimiko wondered.

"Because _he_ is Jack's good chi." Raimundo pointed to Good Jack who was blowing bubbles and dancing along. Kimiko and Raimundo slowly walked up to Good Jack, but they regretted their decision when Good Jack threw the bubbles mixture in the air and it landing on Kimiko.

"Raimundo... _please_ go talk to him before I rip his head off." Kimiko seethed while trying to remove the soapy mixture from her hair. Raimundo didn't have to think twice as he walked up and tapped Good Jack on the shoulder.

"Hello dear friend!" Good Jack hugged Raimundo tightly in response, but Raimundo wasn't in the mood.

"PLEASE GET OFF OF ME!" Raimundo yelled.

"Okay." Good Jack let go of the dragon of wind as Raimundo fell to the floor. Kimiko rushed over to help him up before glancing at Good Jack with annoyance.

"All right." Raimundo tried to recollect his thoughts as he looked over at Good Jack. "I can't find Jack's good chi in the market, so I'm guessing _you're_ his good chi." Raimundo sighed. Kimiko began to study Good Jack's expression when his goofy smile turned into a serious frown.

"Yeah, that's why I said that you had to focus on Hannibal and Chase Young." Good Jack replied.

"Wait, so our plan isn't going to work?" Raimundo wondered.

"It just might...but there's a catch. Jack doesn't have a chi bottle because there might be some good in him. So all you have to do is convince Jack to betray Chase Young and Hannibal Bean and maybe that's your ticket to getting Jack on your side." Good Jack told them. 

"Like _that's_ ever going to happen." Kimiko scoffed. "Jack worships Chase Young more than Omi does, and that's saying a lot." 

"It's not worship, it's downright creepy." Raimundo shuddered.

"Just when I thought I had the perfect plan to stop Chase Young, Jack and Hannibal Bean, the Ying-Yang World threw me a curveball." Kimiko sat down on the ground in defeat as she sulked. "There's no way we can do this." 

"Kimiko, it's going to work." Raimundo got down to her level as she glanced into his eyes. "And it's still a great plan. At least we can take care of Chase Young and Hannibal right?"

"Not with Chase Young's fanboy in the way." Kimiko raised an eyebrow, but Good Jack felt he needed to do something to build their confidence.

"Apparently you guys don't believe in yourselves but you're Xiaolin _warriors_. The fight will be dangerous, so you need to win...or you can _die...trying_?" Good Jack gave his best attempt to give a pep talk. 

"You know, I hate to say it, but he's right." Raimundo told Kimiko. Kimiko nodded her head and sighed. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance at beating Chase Young.

"I don't know...." Kimiko still appeared dejected. Raimundo knew convincing Kimiko everything was gonna work out was hard, but he had to find someway to bring her confidence back.

"Kimiko, we don't really have a choice. We have to go out there and stop Chase Young as a team. We're going to beat him, even if we have to do it... _together_." Raimundo grabbed her hand lightly and squeezed it, which made her blush. She was actually surprised that he was including her in their plans. Maybe he really did see her as a member of the team after all. 

"Let's go stop him." Kimiko firmly stated as she got up from the floor. Raimundo grabbed her hand and started pulling her so they could head back to the temple.

"Wait!" Good Jack yelled. Raimundo and Kimiko turned their heads, afraid of what he was going to say next.

"What is it?' Raimundo asked, trying to be polite.

"The battle is going to be long and hard, but as long as you two fight side by side, then there's no way the Heylin is going to win. Good luck out there." Good Jack smiled. Raimundo and Kimiko nodded their heads and sighed.

"We know. We're a team. Thanks for your help!" Kimiko yelled before pulling Raimundo as far as they could from him, but Good Jack didn't think that they had gotten the message entirely. The battle was going to be nothing but pure torture, and all feelings needed to reach the surface in order for them to successfully take down Chase Young.


	10. Let The Battle Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Xiaolin monks prepare to battle Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer, but their first attempt to stop them doesn't go as planned, and leaves some of the monks with doubts.

As soon as Raimundo and Kimiko got back to the temple courtesy of the Yang Yo-Yo, they couldn't wait to tell Master Fung that they were ready to destroy Chase Young, Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean's plan. But once they took a chance to observe their surroundings, they realized something awful had happened in their absence. The temple appeared disheveled, the walls were crumbled, the once green grass was full of plaster. Raimundo didn't know what to say. He took one look at Kimiko and she shook her head, the both of them wondering who would do such a thing.

"Everything's broken." Kimiko softly said. Raimundo nodded his head and looked around, realizing that the elder monks were being tended to. But before Raimundo had a chance to answer, he and Kimiko noticed Master Fung walking towards them with fire in his eyes.

"Are you all right, Master Fung?" Raimundo wondered.

"What happened while we were gone?" Kimiko stared at Master Fung with worry as he glanced up at the red sky.

"Hannibal, Chase Young and Jack Spicer sent the jungle cats to tear apart the temple. And with the Heylin Comet coming, they are a stronger team and must be stopped. Did you two get the chi?" Master Fung asked. Raimundo and Kimiko appeared solemn at Master Fung's question.

"We have Hannibal and Chase Young's. But without Jack's we're powerless." Raimundo said.

"As long as you have Hannibal and Chase Young's." Master Fung told them. "Now you know what you must do, young monks."

"We have to go and stop them." Kimiko assured him.

"Which means we have to go and meet up with Omi, Clay and Dojo." Raimundo finished her thought.

"Before you go, I have something for each of you." Master Fung walked into the now dilapidated temple and came out with a small box. He opened it and Raimundo and Kimiko saw mini medallions with each of the four elements on it.

"Wow." Kimiko was in awe as she stared at the gold medallions.

"What do these do?" Raimundo asked.

"They will unleash your Xiaolin Showdown armor and give you each an element boost. I've held onto these for a while, but considering the circumstances, I think you monks are ready for them now." Master Fung told them. Kimiko and Raimundo took their respective medallions along with Omi and Clay's so they could give it to them as soon as they met up.

"We better go." Raimundo sighed.

"But how do we get there?' Kimiko wondered.  "Omi and Clay took Dojo."

"Do we have the Silver Manta Ray?" Raimundo asked. Master Fung nodded and Raimundo ran to get it, leaving Kimiko to take in the horrible sight before her. 

"Kimiko?" Master Fung's voice was soothing as the dragon of fire glanced at him with worried eyes. "Remember, even if the other monks have objections, the world cannot be saved without you. You are an important part of the team, and will play an integral role in stopping Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer. You just need to believe in yourself young monk." The worry in Kimiko's eyes faded, and she immediately smiled softly at Master Fung. However, she wasn't expecting someone behind her that wasn't a friend. "Kimiko, look out!" Master Fung pushed Kimiko to the side as she fell on the floor, looking up and noticing Master Fung fighting a chi creature. Kimiko thought for a moment as she wondered where the chi creature came from, but while she tried to help Master Fung, he put a hand up in order to keep her away. "Go find Raimundo and stop Chase Young. I shall take care of the chi creature. Remember, the fate of the world is in your hands!" Kimiko immediately stood up and ran to the Shen Gong Wu vault in order to find Raimundo, but as she ran all she felt was anger. She couldn't wait until they found Chase Young...just so Kimiko could put an end to all the trouble he had caused.

* * *

 

At Chase Young's palace Omi, Clay and Dojo were currently observing their surroundings as they did what Master Fung had ordered. They hadn't gone into battle recklessly, but they didn't know how much longer they could stand there and pretend that the world wasn't going to be taken over by the Heylin. Dojo and Clay noticed Omi was getting antsy, especially since it was hard to keep the dragon of water out of battle.

"We must go in there! It is only a matter of time before Hannibal Bean, Jack Spicer and Chase Young place their plan into effect!" Omi shouted, but Clay and Dojo weren't sure if going into combat would have been the best idea.

"Didnt Master Fung say no fighting, Omi?" Dojo reminded him.   


"He just wanted us to observe the battle field, little buddy." Clay added. "We're also supposed to wait for Rai and Kimiko before we go out there as a team."

"Well, they better get here fast. From what I'm hearing...Chase Young is close to beginning the next phase for world conquest." Dojo muttered as the three of them peered inside the cave, deciding to listen to what Chase Young, Hannibal and Jack were saying. But for three super villains, they didn't know very much about inside voices.

"I must say, destroying the Xiaolin temple was a nice touch!" Jack smiled. "Those monks won't know what hit them when they see their precious temple and that insane chi creature running loose."  


"Yes, the chi creature running loose was a nice touch." Chase Young smirked. "It should keep those monks busy for a while as we wait for the comet to align itself."  


"How much longer anyway?" Jack couldn't help but ask. "Cause I was thinking maybe I'd like to take out the monks before night fall."

"In a matter of hours, Spicer. But by the time the monks realize the comet is coming, it will be too late." Chase Young smirked.  


"GUESS AGAIN, CHASE YOUNG!" Chase Young peered towards the entrance of the cave, and to everyone's surprise, the voice belonged to Omi...who was standing there as if he planned to take on three evil villains at once.   


"Omi! What in tar nation are you doing?!" Clay hissed from the side of the entrance while Omi glared at the 1500-year-old serpent. 

"Can you blame the kid?" Dojo questioned while Clay raised an eyebrow at the small dragon. "He lives for danger."

"Did anyone factor in that the cheese ball was going to listen in on our conversation?" Jack pondered, but Chase Young snapped his fingers which led to the jungle cats walking towards the door.  


"Jungle Cats, please entertain out friends." Chase Young ordered. The jungle cats lunged towards Omi as the monk swiped kicked them, the cats landing against the walls and onto the floor in one fell swoop.   


"You are going to have to try harder if you want to defeat me, Chase Young." Omi furrowed his eyebrows. 

"I was hoping you'd say that, young monk." Chase Young snickered before once again snapping his fingers. The ground started to rumble as Omi's confident demeanor diminished, especially when he saw a large jungle cat walking towards the dragon of water. The large jungle cat was three times larger than the original jungle cats, and while the small ones were easy to handle, this one was sure to be a challenge. 

"I think I should have stayed in hiding." Omi frowned. The jungle cat lunged for Omi as the monk stood paralyzed, but in one fell swoop, Clay grabbed Omi and pulled him out of the cave. Dojo guided Clay and Omi to a small crevice, one where they knew the large jungle cat wasn't going to find them. 

"You think?" Clay sardonically asked the dragon of water. "Omi, what were you thinking?" 

"I was going to take on Chase Young, Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean." Omi admitted.

"You know, it's just like you not to follow orders." Dojo groaned, forcing Omi to glance down at his feet and question what he had done. "Now we've taken away the element of surprise, which means Chase Young is now expecting us! Do you know what you've just done?!" Before Omi had a chance to answer Dojo's question, they noticed the Silver Manta Ray flying overhead, which meant the whole team was now here. 

"There here!" Clay smiled. As soon as the Silver Manta Ray touched down, Kimiko and Raimundo exited the vehicle, but the both of them realized something was amiss. Especially since Omi and Clay appeared as if they were hiding _from_ something.   


"What happened?" Raimundo immediately asked, but he got his answer when Clay and Dojo glared at Omi, the dragon of water letting out an embarrassed laugh in the process. "Omi, what did you do?"

"Well, our plan to sneak into the palace is officially no good." Dojo simply explained. 

"Omi decided to fight three villains by himself." Clay added. "Let's just say it didn't work the way he expected."

"Good job, Omi." Kimiko sardonically stated. "You botched the one thing you were told to do."

"Yeah, how do you mess up the order of doing absolutely _nothing_?" Raimundo wondered. 

"There's time to scold Omi later." Clay waved his hand dismissively while glancing at Raimundo and Kimiko curiously. "Did you get Hannibal, Chase and Jack's good chi?" 

"Hannibal and Chase? Yeah." Raimundo said.

"Jack Spicer? No." Kimiko sighed. "Not to mention the temple was destroyed and Master Fung was fighting some chi creature. I just felt terrible leaving him there."

"Well, we didn't have another choice, Kimiko." Clay tried to assure her. "Master Fung will be fine. He's stronger than all of us." Omi was about to open his mouth before Clay patted him on the head. "Yes, he's stronger than you too, little buddy." Just hearing that knocked the wind out of him, but Omi opted not to speak. His friends weren't too happy that he ruined their initial plan and he didn't want to make anyone even more cross.

"So what's the plan now?" Raimundo stared at his teammates with concern.  


"Raimundo, you are the leader." Omi countered. "Shouldn't you think of a solution?"

"Oh so _now_ I'm the leader?" Raimundo scoffed. "After you botched our attempt to get into the palace, you want me to think of a way to fix your mistake?"

"Guys." Dojo innocently blinked while raising his hand. 

"You have told me one too many times before that you are leader." Omi nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "Now it is your chance to prove it."

" _Guys_." Dojo grumbled, waving his hand in the air.

"I don't have to prove anything to _you_." Raimundo pointed a finger at the dragon of water. "I've done more than my fair share! And maybe I should remind you that _YOU_ were the one that..."

"GUYS!" Dojo screamed, but he immediately was silenced when Clay put a hand over Dojo's mouth.

"Dojo, indoor voice, okay?" Clay told the little dragon as Dojo appeared frustrated. "Now, I'm gonna let go of your mouth, and then you can tell us what it was you wanted to say." Clay let go of Dojo's mouth as the dragon stared at Raimundo and Omi with certainty.

"I have an idea." Dojo smiled, although the monks were surprised.   


"Dojo, are you sure?" Raimundo leaned down to stare at the small dragon. "We don't have time to play around. This is serious."

"I know, but just trust me." Dojo said. "They've already seen _Omi_...but they haven't seen _you_ , now have they?" 

"Hmm..." Raimundo tapped his chin thoughtfully. Maybe Dojo was onto something.  "What _else_ do you got, Dojo?" 

* * *

 

"Something doesn't feel right." Jack said as he, Hannibal and Chase Young continued waiting for the Heylin Comet to align itself. "It's been almost an hour since we got rid of Chrome Dome and it's not like him to just give up."  


"The monks usually don't give up. Besides, I don't think a gigantic jungle cat would scare them off." Chase Young furrowed his eyebrows. "Believe it or not, they're planning their next attack, although they're not going to be as strong since there's only two of them."   


"Ha! Yeah, the dragon of water and earth. What the heck is _that_ going to do?" Jack giggled. As Jack was in a laughing fit, he felt a gust of quick wind and turned around, wondering if there was someone else in the room. "Something's there!"   


"Nothing is there, you nitwit." Hannibal rolled his eyes while trying to get rid of Jack's paranoia, but then the gust of wind traveled and hit Hannibal Bean right into Chase Young. Chase Young finally realized maybe someone was spying on them...and there was someone else _other_ than Omi.

"JUNGLE CATS! FIND THE INTRUDER!" Chase Young yelled. The jungle cats ran around the corner, but just as quickly as they went around, they came back by flying into the air and hitting the wall. After watching his jungle cats land into the wall, Chase Young was now _certain_ that there were intruders in his cave.

"See, someone is here!" Jack said in a know-it-all voice.   


"I have this." Chase Young smiled a small smile before continuing. He stomped on the ground fiercely and just as he knew, the intruder jumped in front of him, battle armor and all. The intruder was none other than Raimundo, distracting the villains so the others could get the signal to attack.

"Hello serpent breath." Raimundo furrowed his eyebrows while Chase Young appeared unamused.

"What are you doing here?" Chase Young questioned.   


"Um, I'm trying to stop you from taking over the world? Duh?" Raimundo countered. "You should know how this goes? We come in, kick your butt, save the world and then you go into hiding."  


"That's usually how the formula goes, but I believe there's one thing you didn't factor in." Chase Young smirked.  


"What's that?" Raimundo tried not to let down his guard against the 1500-year-old serpent.

"This!" Chase Young kicked Raimundo into the wall, causing the dragon of the wind to groan after immediate impact. As soon as Raimundo fell on the floor, the chi bottles belonging to Hannibal and Chase Young rolled away, which caused the dragon of wind to let out a gasp. Chase Young realized exactly what Raimundo was doing, and while Raimundo tried to get up, Chase went towards the chi bottles, immediately breaking them and letting the liquid fall to the floor. From the outside, Omi, Clay and Kimiko widened their eyes, realizing that their initial plan wasn't going to work. They were going to have to destroy Chase Young and the Heylin Comet a different way. "Nice try, Raimundo. But you're going to have to try better than that. It must be terrible being the weak link to your team, especially since you seem to let your feelings get in the way." Raimundo growled as he grabbed Chase Young's feet and threw him across the room, letting his anger get the best of him. "Oh, Raimundo. I see you've learned from the dragon of fire quite well. Just _how_ close have you gotten to her?"   


"What is it that you want with her?!" Raimundo bellowed, Chase Young getting up and walking towards Raimundo.   


"It's not what I want with her." Chase Young chortled. "It's how she can help the Heylin destroy the whole world. She's more powerful than all of you, but she doesn't realize it yet. And when she does realize her power, she will join us, and you will be destroyed."

"Hey, maybe with Raimundo out of the picture, maybe I'll get a chance to date her." Jack chimed in, but that ignited a spark in Raimundo, causing him to lunge at Chase Young and knock the serpent against the book case in the library. As Chase Young tried to gather himself, Raimundo turned around to head out of the cave, but he was shocked that Hannibal Bean and Jack were guarding him, and Hannibal was bigger with help from the Moby Morpher. "Nice try loser. Jack Bots! ATTACK!" A whole bunch of Jack Bots had landed in front of Raimundo, and Raimundo was well-aware he had to fight them in order to get out of this mess. As Raimundo fought them by himself, Omi, Kimiko and Clay watched their fellow comrade and Kimiko felt her heart drop as she realized he needed help.  


"I don't know how much longer I can take this." Kimiko worried. "He's going to get himself hurt!"  


"But we were given distinct orders to say here." Omi said, prompting Kimiko to growl.

"Since when do you listen to Raimundo?!" Kimiko yelled. "I don't care what you guys say, I'm going to go help him." 

"Kimiko, no, this isn't part of the plan." Dojo reminded her, which caused Kimiko to shake her head. She glanced back at the scene where Raimundo was struggling with the Jack Bots, before turning towards her friends.   


"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stand by and watch Raimundo get hurt!" Kimiko pressed a button on her medallion to activate her battle armor, springing into action as Omi and Clay tried to bring her back. 

"Guys, shouldn't we go after her?" Dojo asked, Omi shrugging his shoulders in return. As he and Clay were about to jump into battle, they found themselves caught in a net, the two of them realizing that they had been caught by Chase Young's jungle cats.

 "Well, I'm guessing we're going to be here for a while partner." Clay muttered, Dojo hiding in Clay's hat as the jungle cat got closer to them.

"That would be my guess as well." Omi agreed, the two of them staring back at the battle scene between Raimundo and the jack Bots.

* * *

 

 As Kimiko swooped onto the scene, she destroyed a few Jack Bots along the way, but Raimundo was surprised that Kimiko was helping, and not outside with the others. He furrowed his eyebrows as he kicked a Jack Bot to the wall, eventually joining her and sending her a stern glare.

"What are you doing here?" Raimundo scowled. "You're supposed to be with Omi and Clay outside the palace."

"Yeah, and watch you get bombarded by Jack's Jack Bots?" Kimiko scoffed while using her fire powers to incinerate one of the Jack Bots coming towards them. "I don't think so."

"You didn't listen again!" Raimundo became upset while Kimiko glared again. "Why is it that every time I tell you to stay hidden, you go running off and putting yourself in danger?"  


"Why are you treating me like I'm not part of the team?!" Kimiko screeched in return, although Jack was now amused by the dragon of fire and wind arguing.

"Hold on, the lovebirds are fighting each other." Jack said while Raimundo and Kimiko glared at the self proclaimed genius.

"Shut _up_ , Jack!" Raimundo and Kimiko ceased their arguing for a moment before staring at each other. 

"Do you think I want to see you getting hurt?" Raimundo crossed his arms while Kimiko took a step forward towards him.

"And you think I want to see _you_ get hurt?!" Kimiko retorted. "Rai, we're not only teammates but we're best friends...and if something ever happened to you and I couldn't stop it, I don't know how I would live with myself." 

"You think I don't feel the same way?" Raimundo's anger evaporated as he softly glanced at Kimiko, but Chase Young took that as the perfect opportunity to strike. 

"As _romantic_ as this is, I believe we've had enough of this." Chase Young smirked.  As the two monks turned towards Chase Young, two Jungle Cats grabbed them from behind, which forced Raimundo and Kimiko to try to get the cats off them. But to their disappointment, the cats had an extremely tight grip.  "The comet is close and I don't need any of you getting in my way. Take them to the dungeon Jungle Cats. I'm sure Omi, the earth dragon and the gecko will be happy to see them." 

"You'll never get away with this!" Raimundo yelled at Chase Young as the cats took the two dragons away. 

"I already have, Raimundo. I already have." Chase Young cackled while Kimiko lowered her head in defeat. If it weren't for her, they wouldn't have been captured by the jungle cat, and maybe there would have been a chance they could have saved the world. Instead, it seemed like Chase Young had won, and there was nothing she could have done about it.


	11. Feelings Come Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the monks attempt to think of a new plan to take on Chase Young, Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean, Raimundo and Kimiko clear the air on their feelings.

The trudge to the dungeon had been an emotional one for the monks, as they all pondered over their failure. They all played a part in Chase Young stopping them for the first time, which led to them believing Chase Young was finally going to be successful in ruling the world. As the jungle cats threw Raimundo and Kimiko into the dungeon, they heard the sharp close of the gate, causing the two of them to turn around and notice the jungle cats walking away. Raimundo sadly stared at Kimiko and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but Kimiko shrugged off his hand and headed towards the end of the dungeon, sitting down on a rock and staring away from him. Before Raimundo had a chance to ask Kimiko what was wrong, Omi and Clay ran over to him, Raimundo turning his attention towards his teammates.

"Chase Young got you guys too?" Raimundo pondered, Omi and Clay nodding their heads in defeat.

"Actually, it was a gigantic Jungle Cat that stopped us but you get the drill." Dojo answered. "So what happened between you and Kimiko?" Raimundo bit his lower lip as he stared at Kimiko, noticing that she was still lost in her thoughts. "Raimundo?" Raimundo turned to the dragon, seeing that he was smiling softly towards the dragon of wind. "Tell her."

"I can't..." Raimundo softly muttered, until Omi and Clay shared the same look Dojo had.

"Yes, you can." Clay answered. "The only way we're going to work together as a team is if you two tell each other the truth about how you feel. I know you're scared, but you both can't keep pretending there's not something more there." Raimundo glanced at Kimiko once more before taking a deep breath, walking towards her and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Kimiko?" Raimundo spoke softly. Kimiko turned her head to him before shifting her body away from him. "Kimiko, there's something I want to tell you..."

"Yeah, there's something I wanted to tell you too. I'm sorry." Raimundo widened his eyes at Kimiko's apology. _This_ wasn't he expected to hear from her. "Look at all the trouble I caused. If it's anyone's fault that were down here, it's mine. I was just too stubborn to stay away but...I just couldn't stand there and watch you get hurt. You're too important to me." Kimiko said. When she had said those words, Raimundo realized that the only one at fault had been himself. He didn't want Kimiko to fight even though she was apart of the team and it cost them being thrown in a dungeon.

"No, Kimiko. _I'm_ the one that needs to be sorry. I should have let you fight. I guess I was afraid that you were gonna get hurt and I couldn't risk the thought of losing you." Raimundo sadly spoke. But Kimiko didn't want him taking responsibility for her mistake. She knew that if she had stuck to the plan then maybe it would have ended differently. Instead, the chi bottles were broken and all of them were captured in an underground dungeon.

"But look at all the trouble I caused. We have no chi bottles, we're stuck here and the world is about to end. I never should have left Japan to become a Xiaolin Monk and frankly I feel like giving up." Kimiko told him. Raimundo wasn't believing what he was hearing from her. This wasn't the Kimiko they all knew.

"Kimiko, what happened was not your fault and you can't give up." Raimundo kept trying to coax her to stay, but for some reason she wasn't budging.

"Right..." Kimiko had a bit of anger in her voice.

"I'm not letting you quit, Kimiko." Raimundo grabbed her hands and stared into her eyes. "Kimiko, you are a Xiaolin Monk and we don't work without you. _I.._.don't work without you."  For a second, Kimiko wasn't sure what she was hearing. Was Raimundo about to...reveal some inner feelings?

"Is there something your trying to tell me, Raimundo?" Kimiko's tone invited Raimundo to say what was on his mind, which caused the dragon of wind to stare into her sapphire eyes.

"Yes! I like you, Kimiko. Like, more than a friend like you." The last part he whispered, but it was loud enough for Kimiko and everyone else to hear. Omi, Dojo and Clay silently fist pumped while Kimiko blushed. For a moment, Raimundo thought Kimiko didn't reciprocate his feelings and that Dojo, Omi and Clay misinterpreted her, but he was surprised when she bashfully giggled and gave a small smile.

"It was about time that you said something." Raimundo's eyes widened at Kimiko's sentence while the dragon of fire squeezed the dragon of wind's hands. "I had a feeling but I wanted to wait until you said something." 

"Yeah, I was kind of scared to say so...but I'm glad I did. So, um, just wondering...do you possibly, maybe...have feelings for  _me_?" Raimundo looked away from her as his cheeks turned red, but he was surprised Kimiko moved her hands to his cheeks, forcing him to look at her.

"Yes, I do." Kimiko leaned her forehead on his, Raimundo glancing at her with adornment. "I've had them for a _long_ time but I didn't want to say anything until I was sure you had feelings for me. I mean, the last thing I wanted to do was lose you." 

"I don't think you have to worry about that." Raimundo assured her. "So, are you still going to quit now that you know the truth?" Kimiko pretended to think for a moment before shaking her head.

 "No way. If I left now, who's going to stop evil from kicking your butt?" Kimiko teased while Raimundo placed a hand on her cheek. He leaned in to give her a kiss, but before their lips could touch, Dojo got in between of them, the two of them almost forgetting that they had company.

"As wonderful and romantic as this moment is, we still have to stop Chase Young from destroying the world." Dojo reminded them. "And we don't have much time."

"Right." Raimundo almost forgot that the world was at stake, forcing him to stand up and glance at the rest of his teammates.

"How much time do we have until the comet hits?" Kimiko asked.

"Well, when Omi was trying to fight Chase Young, I was able to get a good look at the machine Chase had." Dojo said. "Apparently we have an hour before the comet hits."

"All right, first thing's first, we have to get out of here." Raimundo instructed. Kimiko immediately got up and went towards the metal bars, cracking her knuckles and lighting the tips of her fingers with fire. She used the fire to weaken the metal before kicking down the bars, freeing the Xiaolin Monks from their dungeon prison.

 "Awesome! Way to go! Excellent!" Clay, Raimundo and Omi congratulated her as they went towards the exit.

"Wait a minute." Dojo looked at the monks as they stared at each other with confusion. "We still need a new plan to stop Chase Young. He destroyed the chi bottles, remember?"

"Oh don't worry, I got one." Kimiko said before she shyly stared at Raimundo. "If...that's okay with you, Rai?"

"It's all yours, Kim." Raimundo gave her a thumbs-up. 

"Good, cause there not gonna win. Not under my watch." Kimiko's confidence returned, which was what Raimundo wanted to hear. "So, when Master Fung was talking to me, he kept referring that the fate of the world was in _my_ hands."

"So?" Clay didn't understand where Kimiko was going with this.

"If he meant for all of us, wouldn't he have said in _our_ hands?" Kimiko pondered. "Plus, he was trying to assure me that I was an important piece to our team. What if _I'm_ the one that can stop the Heylin Comet. I mean, as a Grand Master, Grand Master Dashi was able to use any of the five elements: Water, Fire, Earth, Wind and Metal. What if he used _fire_ to destroy the Heylin Comet?"

"You know that would make sense." Clay scratched his head as he was in thought. "I don't see how water could put out a comet as strong as that, the comet's too strong to knock out with wind and earth is useless. Plus, I had never heard of a dragon of metal before."

"Which means we have to try to fight fire with fire." Kimiko sounded determined.

"Kimiko, are you certain that you are strong enough to take on the Heylin Comet?" Omi sounded a bit fearful while the boys expected Kimiko's confidence to wain. But instead, she kept her firm demeanor, which surprised them.

"I'm going to have to die trying." Kimiko declared. Kimiko sensed the nervous look on Raimundo's face before she gave her friends a confident smile. "But I know you guys won't let me fall, right? You'll be there when I need help?"

"But of course." Omi agreed.

"You got that right." Clay added. Kimiko's eyes darted towards Raimundo as he stared at her. Instead of saying words, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it, which gave Kimiko a sense of comfort. They glanced at each other softly, but Dojo once again interrupted their moment while hanging from Clay's neck.

"So, what's the first phase of the plan?" Dojo asked, Kimiko staring at the green dragon.

"The first order of business?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow while a mischievous smile appeared on her face. "We have to get recaptured by Chase Young."

"I'm not sure I'm understanding right, little lady." Clay innocently blinked. "You want us to purposely get captured by Chase Young Hannibal Roy Bean and Jack Spicer?"

"Trust me, it's going to work. If we get out and he recaptures us, he's not going to bring us down here. He's going to make sure that we're in his sight at all times. So that means..."

"He's going to make us watch him 'rule the world'. Like every other evil villain." Raimundo caught onto what she was thinking.

"Exactly." Kimiko told them. "Let's go stop him." Omi, Clay and Dojo went ahead, but just before Raimundo was about to follow, Kimiko used her hand to keep him back, which caused him to turn towards her with concern. However, he noticed there was no fear on her face, and instead her cheeks were a bright pink. "So, about that kiss...? You wanna rain check?" 

"Definitely." Raimundo felt his cheeks redden as Kimiko walked ahead of him. Raimundo wasn't sure what was going to happen in their fight against Chase Young, but the fact Kimiko had rain checked their kiss made him think that she knew everything was going to turn out okay. And honestly, he hoped that she was right and there would be time for them to officially cement their feelings later.

* * *

"I don't get why we have to check on the Xiaolin monks." Jack groaned as he and Hannibal Bean made their way towards the dungeon where the monks were held. "We're just going to taunt in their faces that we're about to unleash the Heylin Comet which is a total page out of the Villain Handbook."

"Chase Young wants us to play with our prey a bit." Hannibal Bean answered. "I thought you would know that better than all people."

"Well, I just think it's stupid that...OOMPH!" Jack didn't get a chance to finish when he felt a fist land in his jaw, causing him to fly back into the wall. Hannibal turned and noticed Raimundo was holding his fist out, while Omi, Clay and Kimko stared at their leader with shock.

"What? I had to get back at Jack for that crack about wanting to date Kimiko." Raimundo shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly as Kimiko shuddered.

"Yeah, like _that_ would ever happen." Kimiko sounded disgusted while Hannibal stared at the monks.

"How on earth did you get out?" Hannibal asked, Kimiko crossing her arms with a smirk.

"Well, it's easy when all you have to do is break the bars of the cage." Kimiko gave a haughty laugh. "Honestly, I thought an evil doer would know better than to put four monks with elemental abilities in a dungeon."

"What an idiot!" Raimundo added while the monks all started cackling. Hannibal growled and eventually turned towards Jack, who was slowly getting up after getting punched in the face.

"You know Jack, apparently the monks think that we're a joke." Hannibal smirked. "We should show them what kind of joke we can _really_ be."

"Ooh, I like the way you think!" Jack laughed. "Here kitty, kitty! Come and play with our friends." The monks widened their eyes when the ground started to shake, all of them turning towards the gigantic jungle cat that Omi and Clay had to avoid earlier. "Well, I think this should keep these brats occupied while we head upstairs. have fun being Meow Mix. Ha! Good one, Jack." Jack spoke the last part to himself as he and Hannibal left, the monks now cornered by the gigantic jungle cat.

"This cat is most difficult to defeat." Omi gulped while the others stared at him. "It has cat-like speed and reflexes."

"Cat-like speed and...reflexes." Clay widened his eyes while Clay, Raimundo and Omi stared at Kimiko.

"Why are you all staring at me like that?" Kimiko asked.

"Because you're the fastest one of all of us." Clay explained.

"Yeah, even faster than Omi." Raimundo cracked while using his thumb to point at Omi.

"Hey!" Omi furrowed his eyebrows but he didn't have time to elaborate when the cat tried to swipe at them. Clay grabbed all of the monks and pushed them out the way, leaving it between him and the cat.

"WUDAI CRATER, EARTH!" Clay shouted, stomping on the ground as the cat lost it's balance. Kimiko jumped into battle as her hands lit up with fire, aiming towards the cat and launching fire balls towards it.

"WUDAI MARS, FIRE!" Kimiko yelled as the fireballs hit the cat, causing the gigantic jungle cat to hiss at her. The cat was able to swat some of the fire balls back towards Kimiko and Clay, the two of them glancing at Omi and Raimundo with shock. "A little help here, guys?"

"WUDAI NEPTUNE, WATER!" Omi was able to put out the fire balls with his water whip, while Raimundo created a gust towards the gigantic Jungle Cat.

"SHOKU STAR, WIND!" Raimundo pushed the jungle cat into one of the walls, causing the cat to lie on the floor as the ceiling started to shake.

"I think the ceiling is about to collapse." Clay said while Omi raised an eyebrow towards him.

"Thank you, Chief Apparent." Omi sighed.

"Captain Obvious." Kimiko corrected him while they watched rocks fall on top of the jungle cat. They knew they had to get somewhere where it'd be safe or else they'd be crushed, and that was when Raimundo saw a small room with a door handle. 

"Over there." Raimundo pulled Omi and Kimiko while Clay followed, the four of them entering the small room with haste. As soon as Clay closed the door behind him, the monks released a sigh, glad that they were out of trouble for now. "Is everyone all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Clay said as Kimiko and Omi nodded their heads. "Where are we anyway?"

"Hmm, I wish I knew." Raimundo furrowed his eyebrows while staring at all the scrolls that were on the shelf. "I think we're in Chase Young's private library."

"How many libraries can one villain have?" Kimiko wondered, grabbing a scroll and reading it. "It's almost like he'd have no use for the Fountain of Hui and Eagle Scope with all this information."

"Which explains why he's not interested in Shen Gong Wu." Clay added. "So what's the plan now."

"I assumed we were going to be captured. Instead we are running away from the enemy." Omi crossed his arms as Kimiko rolled her eyes.

"Yes, we want to be captured _alive_. Not mauled to death by a gigantic jungle cat." Kimiko sternly told the dragon of water. "How much time until the comet, Dojo?"

"45 minutes." Dojo looked at his watch that was strapped to his wrist. "Which means we have to find a way to get to the main level." Raimundo glanced at the bookcase that Kimiko was standing in front of and noticed the hinges. Maybe the bookcase wasn't  _just_ a bookcase.

"Guys, look." Raimundo walked over to the bookcase and opened it like a door, revealing a dark tunnel on the other side. "I think we just found our way to Chase Young."

"All right, let's go." Clay said as the boys went into the cave. However, Kimiko glanced around and saw a scroll that was of interest to her. She grabbed the scroll and glanced at the words as she became in awe with what she was reading. She didn't notice that the boys had gone far ahead but luckily for her, Raimundo was aware she wasn't following.

 "Kimiko, are you coming?" Raimundo asked, Kimiko glancing up and nodding her head.

 "Yeah, I'm coming." Kimiko walked into the cave as she closed the door, the four monks now following wherever the cave would lead them. As the monks walked along the cave, they felt they could hear someone in the distance, and that was when they knew they were close to Chase Young. Raimundo noticed Kimiko's nose was stuck in the scroll and he was becoming interested as to what she was reading about. Ever since she had saved the three boys from Hannibal Bean, her nose had been stuck in a scroll.

 "What you got there, Kimiko?" Raimundo questioned, Kimiko glancing up and closing the piece of paper with haste.

 "Nothing really." Kimiko assured him, although Raimundo sensed she was hiding something. Before he had a chance to ask, the monks stared up ahead as they heard footsteps.

 "Who's there?" Clay called out, which caused Omi and Raimundo to slap their foreheads with their hands.

 "Yeah Clay, because the bad guy is really going to say 'it's me, and I'm here to capture you'." Raimundo sardonically answered.

 "Well, looks like there's a plot twist, Raimundo." A voice that was none of the Xiaolin Monks called out, revealing it to be none other than Chase Young. "You know, I shouldn't have underestimated you monks when you broke out of the dungeon. But if you can't accept defeat like good little monks, I'm afraid I'm going to have to make you watch as the Heylin takes over the world. Maybe that will teach you not to be so insubordinate."

 "Oh no! Anything but that!" Omi and Clay tried to act like they were doomed as Chase Young summoned his jungle cats. The jungle cats surrounded the Xiaolin Monks as the four of them glared at the 1,500-year-old serpent with anger. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

 "I guess we're just going to have to follow you." Kimiko sounded dejected as Chase Young turned and motioned for the cats to make the monks follow. But while the cats weren't looking, Raimundo gave Kimiko a fist bump as she whispered, "Phase one of the plan, _complete_."


	12. The Final Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The monks put their renewed plan into action, but a final battle between Kimiko and Chase Young forces Kimiko to unleash powers she had no idea existed. Also, the monks prepare for one final plot twist from the Heylin.

While their initial plan to get recaptured seemed to have worked to the tee, they quickly ended in a predicament where Omi, Clay and Kimiko were in one metal cage and Raimundo was in the other. To add drama to the situation, they were over a bubbly liquid which could have incinerated them if the cage had been lowered. As Kimiko appeared miffed that Chase Young silently found a way to one-up the monks, she noticed the 1500-year-old serpent was staring at the monks as if they were some strange exhibit at the zoo.

"I'm sure you monks won't cause any trouble while you're up there." Chase Young cackled while Kimiko and Omi glanced at each other with furrowed eyebrows.

"You will never get away with this, Chase Young!" Omi shouted.

"Oh, but I believe I already have, young monk." Chase Young smirked while Kimiko furrowed her eyes.

"Chase Young, you don't understand the damage you're about to do to the entire world." Kimiko tried to reason. "You're going to really risk ruining the entire world because you want to be the most powerful being that ever existed? There's more to life than being the most powerful being."

"Oh, and what could be more important than being the most powerful person and making the world as you envision it?" Chase Young sneered.

"You don't have to be the most powerful person. Sometimes you can be just good enough for your friends." Kimiko answered. "I've done some research on this and people that usually want to be the most powerful person in the world tend to suffer from low self esteem."

"I'm sorry, I must not have heard you correctly. Did you just say that I have low self esteem?" Chase Young furrowed his eyebrows while slowly walking towards the cage.

"Oh yeah, we're so gonna die now." Dojo muttered from inside Clay's hat.

"Kimiko, may I suggest that you close your cage?' Omi whispered to her.

"I think the little buddy means 'shut your trap'." Clay shrugged his shoulders, but he noticed the cross look on Raimundo's face from the other cage, almost as if Raimundo was silently telling Omi and Clay to stop ganging up on Kimiko. "Not that _I_ would ever tell you to do so of course."

"Being the most powerful being in the world shouldn't be _anyone's_ goal. Sometimes there's someone out there that can show you that there's more to live for...even if it means sticking with your team and not giving up on yourself." Kimiko side-eyed towards Raimundo as he felt his cheeks redden, but she once again focused on Chase Young. "There has to be something... _someone_ that inspires you to be the best person you can possibly be."

"Is it just me or has Kimiko been watching to much female daytime talk shows?" Dojo questioned as Omi and Clay stared at the dragon.

"Hey, those shows aren't all bad." Clay creased his eyebrows towards the dragon. "My mama watches those shows."

"Having friends is weak, and the best person I can be is ruling the world while the Xiaolin Monks are dead." Chase Young seethed. "I'm tired of talking...it's time to end this once and for all. Jungle Cat, lower one of the cages."

"Wait, what are you going to do to them?" Jack asked, almost as if he was conflicted.

"They're going to burn in the acid below. Don't worry, Spicer. Their death will be slow and painful." Chase Young smirked while walking towards the control panel.

"Wait a minute, killing the monks was never part of the plan." Jack immediately said. "I thought they were going to be turned into jungle cats so they could watch you destroy the world. Wouldn't it be better to have your enemies watch you succeed than have them die."

"If they die, there's no way they can ruin my efforts." Chase Young reminded the young self-proclaimed genius. "Besides, you tried to feed them to a gigantic jungle cat, remember."

"Maybe I had a gut feeling that they were going to get out of it." Jack reasoned. "They always seem to get out of scrapes like that, and I have to admit that seeing them defeat a cat isn't all that impressive." Jack glanced back at the monks as they crossed their arms at him, Jack now turning to Chase Young with concern. "The point is, we can't kill them."

"Killing good is part of being an evil villain, Spicer." Chase Young glared at him. "If you don't like the idea..."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I like the idea of defeating the monks as much as the next person." Jack put his hands up as the monks glanced at him with confusion. "But _I_ saw them first, which means it's _my_ job to kick their butts! And even if they get on my nerves, I would never kill them. You know, maybe you're just afraid that the monks are stronger than you, and the reason you constantly put them down is because you're threatened by them. I can try to help rule the world, but I can't hurt them. I'm sorry."

"Well...I'm sorry you feel that way, Spicer." Chase Young nonchalantly shrugged before grabbing the evil boy genius by the throat and tossing him in the same cage as Kimiko, Omi and Clay. As soon as the cage closed behind him, Jack noticed Chase Young pressing a button before glancing at the monks as if they were his prey. "Now you'll get to die alongside them." Chase Young reverted his attention from Jack to Kimiko while his hand went towards the lever. "And Kimiko, I believe I still need to teach you a lesson... _no one_ talks lowly about Chase Young and gets to walk away pain-free." Chase Young slowly pulled the lever and the next thing they knew, Raimundo's cage was starting to lower towards the bubbling acid. Kimiko's eyes widened and she went towards the front of the cage, trying her hardest to break it open so she could help Raimundo.

"You can't do this to him!" Kimiko shouted towards Chase Young as she continued her attempts to break the cage, but she found it was rather difficult when not even her element could create a dent in the bars. "Why can't I break it?!"

"I learned from my error the first time." Chase Young smirked. "Did you really think I was going to make the same mistake twice?"

"Chase Young, please don't do this!" Kimiko felt her voice crack while glancing at the other cage, noticing that Raimundo was beginning to become anxious as he got closer to the bubbly acid. "Just leave him alone!"

"Tell me why I should spare your precious leader? He's caused just as much trouble as the rest of you have, and the only way you get rid of a pest is by destroying it." Chase Young's lips curled into a menacing smile.

"You can't hurt him, Chase! You can't hurt him because..." Kimiko bit her lower lip as she watched his cage lower, her eyes welling up with tears as Raimundo glanced up at her. "Because I love him!" Jack widened his eyes at Kimiko's confession and even Omi and Clay were a little baffled. They knew Kimiko liked Raimundo more than a friend; they just didn't know she _loved_ him. Even Raimundo was a little off-guard by the confession, but he didn't seem bothered by it. Instead, he smiled back at her and for a moment forgot that the cage was slowly bringing closer to an acid death. Chase Young paused Raimundo's cage for a moment, but judging from the look on his face, he had a menacing expression.

"Okay, so just to clear it up, you and Raimundo are like together now, right?" Jack asked, although Kimiko ignored Jack's question and kept her eyes on Raimundo.

"Rai, I know this isn't really the right time to do this, and you don't have to say it back." Kimiko said which caused Raimundo to glance up at her with a softened expression. "But there is no way I am willing to let Chase Young take you out of my life. I've hid my feelings for too long to just see it end this way."

"Okay, I don't normally get mushy, but that's kind of beautiful..." Jack wiped the tears from his face as Omi handed a napkin to Jack. "Thanks chrome dome."

"I just wish that there was a way that I could show you just how much you mean to me." Kimiko gave a sad smile as Jack snapped his fingers.

"Okay, I'm guessing this is where I come in." Jack said, his Jack Bots coming in a moment later. "Jack Bots, keep Chase Young occupied!"

"Your little toys are going to stop me?" Chase Young cackled as the Jack Bots swarmed the 1500-year-old serpent. "I'd like to see them try." The Jack Bots started to unleash their lasers towards Chase Young as Jack held a key that was hidden inside his coat, causing Omi and Clay to innocently blink.

"This is what happens when you trust _Jack Spicer, Evil Boy Genius_ with the key to the cages." Jack unlocked the cage as Kimiko, Omi and Clay jumped out. Jack tossed Kimiko the key as she went over to the other cage, unlocking it and opening the door to let Raimundo out. Raimundo jumped out of the cage and landed in front of Kimiko, but he wasn't expecting to be captured in a hug.

"Rai, you're okay!" Kimiko sounded relieved while Raimundo smiled down at her.

"Yeah, thanks to you." Raimundo lightly chuckled as she stared into his eyes. However, the moment was interrupted when a Jack Bot that had been destroyed by Chase Young was flying towards them, which caused Kimiko to activate her Wudai Fire Shield. As the Jack Bot broke in a million pieces, Raimundo looked up at the sky; the comet was on it's way to aligning itself, which meant it was time to keep Chase Young and Hannibal Bean busy until the comet passed. "We kind of gotta get a move on."

"You two aren't going anywhere." Kimiko and Raimundo turned towards Hannibal Bean who was doubled in size. "You two think that you're just going to come waltzing in and destroying our plans? I don't think so."

"Do I want to know where you were the whole time Chase Young was trying to kill us?" Raimundo asked, getting into a battle stance.

"Even beans have to use the evil men's room." Hannibal Bean nonchalantly shrugged before he used his hand as a whip and smacked both Kimiko and Raimundo into the wall.

"Raimundo! Kimiko!" Omi shouted when he realized his friends were down for the count.

"Forget about us! Omi, you and Clay take care of Chase Young!" Raimundo shouted from his area. "We got Mr. Musical Fruit, here."

"Oh do you?" Hannibal Bean chortled while smacking Raimundo away from Kimiko, causing the dragon of fire to widen her eyes. Before Kimiko could get up, a few Jungle Cats piled onto her, and she was left defenseless while Hannibal Bean made his way towards Raimundo. As Raimundo struggled to get up, he noticed Hannibal Bean towering over him, the dragon of wind gritting his teeth in response. "It looks like I seem to have your number, Raimundo. In just a matter of minutes, the comet is going to align itself, and when it does, there's nothing you and your little monk friends can do to stop us. We'll be the most powerful villains in the world and you and your monks will end up dead." Hannibal Bean used his gigantic arms to swat Raimundo to the other side of the room, while at the same time Chase Young had found a way to get Omi and Clay out the picture. Chase Young swatted the two monks into the wall as if they were merely nothing, and when Chase Young started glowing, Kimiko knew the Heylin Comet was beginning to take effect.

"No!" Kimiko yelled as she tried to get out from underneath the jungle cats.

"YES!" Chase Young shouted as the comet slowly aligned itself with the sun, and his Jungle Cats kept Omi, Clay and Jack busy.

"You know, you monks should thank me." Jack said with Omi and Clay wondering what the evil boy genius meant by that. "If it weren't for me, Chase Young would have killed Raimundo in that vat of acid."

"Yeah, well what about now?" Clay pointed towards the scene where Raimundo laid almost lifeless on the floor and Hannibal Bean was still hovering over him.

"With the Heylin Comet's magic, we're the most powerful villains in the world!" Chase Young cackled.

"You know, with our newfound magic, we should be able to get rid of some pests. And I think we should start with this one right here." Hannibal Bean said as Raimundo tried to sit up, but Hannibal used his hand to swat Raimundo to another quadrant of the palace. Hannibal Bean was just swatting Raimundo as if the dragon of wind was a rag doll, which absolutely broke Kimiko's heart.

"RAIMUNDO! NO!" Kimiko yelled, hoping that he would shout that he was fine. But nothing happened, and Raimundo was lying on the floor as Hannibal Bean and Chase Young attempted to finish the job. Anger was coursing through Kimiko's body, and it was almost as if there was a fire that she couldn't quite put out.

"Any last words, Raimundo?" Hannibal taunted as Raimundo slowly opened his eyes to stare at the powerful evil doers. Kimiko didn't notice that her entire body had created an inferno, but Omi, Clay and Jack were speechless as they noticed Kimiko's sudden transformation. Dojo on the other hand was in awe, and appeared as if he had seen this once before.

"Um, what's wrong with Kimiko?" Jack asked, Omi and Clay shrugging their shoulders.

"I don't know, I've never seen this before." Omi admitted. "But she looks most impressive."

"I've seen this before." Dojo admitted while Omi and Clay glanced at one another. "But I've only seen this once...by Grand Master Dashi."

"Grand Master Dashi?!" Clay sounded surprised. "Dojo, you might want to tell us the whole story."

"I could tell you...but I think it's better if you're shown why it's such a big deal." Dojo pointed while Kimiko's eyes had fire in their eyes and her entire body was a walking fireball.

"Get...away...from...HIM!" Kimiko bellowed, knocking all of the jungle cats that were on her into the wall. Chase Young had turned around, noticing the gigantic flash, and he was in awe by the sudden power Kimiko harnessed.

"It can't be..." Chase Young murmured. "She possesses..."

"I thought that was a myth." Hannibal Bean added while glancing at Chase Young.

"Unfortunately, no. It's not a myth." Chase Young still sounded in awe. "I've seen this once before..."

"All right gecko, you might want to explain what the heck is going on here." Jack furrowed his eyebrows.

"I'm going to ignore your gecko comment for the moment, but I will kill you for it later." Dojo seethed towards Jack while darting his eyes to Omi and Clay. "Grand Master Dashi was able to defeat Chase Young the first time by using this particular tactic. This is called the Dragon Fire, and while Grand Master Dashi was the Dragon of Metal, he was able to use all five elements. To defeat Chase Young, he used the Dragon Fire which is the most powerful state a Dragon of Fire can go into. I'll take a guess and say Kimiko is able to harness her power when she saw Raimundo being thrown all over the place."

"So basically Raimundo almost getting crushed triggered it?" Jack wondered.

"It can be triggered based on emotion." Dojo said. "Grand Master Dashi triggered his when he found out Wuya was actually the girl he had been seeing and only used him to steal all of the Shen Gong Wu. She also ended up dating Chase Young for a spell, so you can see why Grand Master Dashi was mad."

"Eew, Grand Master Dashi used to date Wuya? That's _sick_!" Jack groaned.

"That's not the point of the story, but I guess that's what happens when you're granted with selective hearing." Dojo rolled his eyes before everyone stared at Kimiko in her state. "The problem is if Kimiko can't control herself, she can be quite dangerous."

"Uh-oh." Omi blinked. "So that must mean..."

"She might take out Hannibal, Chase Young and us if we irk her..." Dojo muttered.

"Ooh, that's not good." Jack muttered. Their eyes went back to the scene as Kimiko slowly walked towards Chase Young and Hannibal Bean, her hands lighting up with fire.

"Jungle Cats, stop her!" Chase Young pointed towards the dragon of fire, but as the Jungle Cats got in her way, Kimiko simply flipped them to the wall, almost as if they were a toy she didn't want to play with. Her eyes were on Chase Young and Hannibal Bean, as if they were the targets of a 'search and destroy' mission.

"She just took out all your cats as if it was nothing." Hannibal Bean was impressed, but Chase Young wasn't giving in so easily.

"Listen here, Kimiko. There's nothing you can do. I've already unleashed the full power of the Heylin Comet, and now that I have, I can destroy anything and everything that's in my path. Even if I have to destroy you." Chase Young threatened.

"Well then, I guess I'm going to have to teach you two _freaks_ a lesson. _No one_ , hurts my boyfriend and gets to walk away pain-free." Kimiko's voice sounded menacing. In fact, she didn't sound like herself at all...it was almost as if she was a completely different person. Raimundo would have been touched she had called him her boyfriend, but he was more worried about her current state. She was extremely powerful, and wasn't a force to be reckoned with.

"Okay, so that officially answers my question as to whether they're together or not." Jack pointed towards Kimiko while Omi and Clay stared at the Jungle Cats guarding them.

"We have to go and help Kimiko." Omi declared, but Dojo immediately shook his head.

"Does _no one_ listen to the dragon?" Dojo placed his hands on Omi's shoulders. "Kimiko is too dangerous in this state. She might attack you and she could really hurt you. Of course she wouldn't mean it, but..."

"She'd accidentally kill us if we got in the way." Clay explained to Omi.

"So we are to just sit and do nothing?" Omi crossed his arms, Dojo nodding his head slowly.

"Pretty much." Dojo answered. Their eyes once again landed on Kimiko, Chase Young and Hannibal Bean, and they couldn't help but feel an ominous feeling, almost as if something was about to happen.

"Chase Young, we can take her." Hannibal Bean groaned while motioning towards Kimiko. "She's just a Xiaolin monk! Remember, you called her weak just a few hours ago."

"Not in this state she's not." Chase Young tried to warn Hannibal Bean, but Hannibal lunged for the dragon of fire, using one of his slithery hands as a whip. Kimiko grabbed his hand and spun the bean around, eventually throwing him into the cage the monks were in just moments before and the door closing behind him. Kimiko snarled as she turned back towards Chase Young, the 1500-year-old serpent giving Kimiko a smirk. "Well, I see you were able to take down Hannibal Bean, but you are no match for me young monk."

"You have plagued this world for the last time, Chase Young!" The fire around Kimiko burned brighter as she took another step towards the serpent. "You will be destroyed, even if it's the last thing I do."

"Hannibal Bean may have been an easy defeat, but you're forgetting one thing." Chase Young turned into his serpent form as Kimiko snarled at him, the two of them toeing with each other once Chase Youn finished his transformation. "I've dealt with Dashi and the Dragon Fire, which means I know how to put it out." Chase Young threw a punch but was surprised Kimiko had blocked his attack, flipping back and putting her fists up.

"You may have dealt with Grand Master Dashi, but _you're_ forgetting one thing." Kimiko lit a few fire balls and tossed them at Chase Young, the serpent moving away and finding himself cornered back into the bookcase. "You're _not_ dealing with Grand Master Dashi this time." Kimiko jumped in the air and unleashed an inferno of fire shaped like a dragon, which circled around Chase Young and brought him into the air. Kimiko took the opportunity to land punch after punch on Chase Young, her fists moving rapidly as her inferno dragon lifted him up towards the ceiling. She used one final punch to push Chase Young into the ground. However, Kimiko wasn't done yet. The fire inferno shaped like a dragon picked Chase Yong up again, this time tossing the serpent around the room as if _he_ were the rag doll. Kimiko seemed to have been finding joy in it, but Omi, Clay and Dojo knew that she was beginning to lose self control over herself.

"She's doing the same thing Hannibal Bean did to Raimundo to Chase Young." Dojo sounded worried. "She could ultimately kill him."

"Well, killing Chase Young wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, now would it?" Jack questioned.

"Xiaolin monks don't kill, Spicer. Only when necessary." Dojo reminded him. "Oh boy, this is very bad. She's taking it too far!" A fire ball was heading towards them as Dojo, Omi and Clay widened their eyes, Omi immediately putting out the fire ball with his water elements.

"We must stop her." Omi reasoned, but Dojo gritted his teeth.

"For the last time, she's going to kill us if we do!" Dojo explained. "She's out of control and there's no way we can stop her."

"This is going to sound like a dumb question...but what if Chase Young and Hannibal Bean _weren't_ the only ones that absorbed something from the Heylin Comet?" Jack pondered. Jack's revelation immediately dawned on Dojo, as he thought about why Kimiko was having such a good time throwing Chase Young around.

"Oh no, Kimiko absorbed some of the power too, probably from when she was fighting Hannibal Bean and Chase Young!" Dojo winced in fear. "No wonder she can't stop herself."

"Okay, so how do we stop Kimiko?" Clay wondered. Little did they know, Raimundo had been listening in on their conversation, and he used every ounce of energy he had to get up from the floor. He watched as Kimiko continued to toss Chase Young around, with Chase Young eventually landing on the floor as if he was limp. Kimiko walked towards the serpent as Chase Young slowly opened his eyes, noticing the dragon of fire was towering over him.

"Any last words, Chase Young?" Kimiko smirked. Chase Young tried to get up but he found himself too weak. The inferno on Kimiko had lit up to the furthest degree and she was ready to strike. Until...

"Kimiko! Please don't do this!" Kimiko heard a voice behind her as she turned and saw Raimundo slowly walking towards her, his eyes filled with fear. "I know Chase Young hurt me, and I know he destroyed the temple and put Master Fung in danger with that stupid chi creature, but this isn't the answer. What makes you any better than Hannibal or Chase Young if you're doing the same things they did to me?" Kimiko furrowed her eyebrows as she glanced at Chase Young, but Raimundo decided to take another step towards her. He knew he was risking a lot just doing what he did, especially since Kimiko was in a very vulnerable state.

"Is he _crazy_?" Jack hissed towards Dojo, Omi and Clay.

"Yeah, he's crazy." Clay answered.

"Crazy in love." Dojo added.

"Kimiko, I know you're hurt and upset about what happened, but I'm fine. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Raimundo noticed she was lowering her guard as she once again glared at the serpent. Raimundo gulped as he got close enough to her and stared into her eyes, knowing that somewhere in there was the real Kimiko...the Kimiko he fell head over heels for. "I love you, Kimiko. Please..., snap out of it." Kimiko felt her face turn soft as the inferno started to fade, Chase Young realizing that Kimiko was coming out of the dragon fire state. As she eventually came back to normal, Raimundo caught her before she fell, Kimiko gripping onto him as she started to cry. "It's okay, Kimiko. I'm here." Raimundo comforted her while Omi and Clay released a smile. Chase Young slowly got up from his position as he and Hannibal Bean noticed the Heylin Comet flying past the sun. However, there was a warning signal coming from the control panel which caused Omi and Clay to stare at Jack.

"What's that about?" Omi questioned, with Jack letting out a sigh.

"While he was taunting you, had you locked in a cage and fought Kimiko, he _may_ have unleashed some evil..." Jack revealed.

"Wait, Chase Young did _what_?" Raimundo sounded alarmed while Kimiko wiped her tears. She gave Chase Young a hard look as the serpent gave a smirk. Obviously there was _more_ to his plan.

"What did you do you overgrown lizard?!" Kimiko lit her fingers with fire while Raimundo gritted his teeth towards Chase Young.  What they weren't expecting was Chase Young letting out a maniacal laugh in the process.

"You are too late, young monks." Chase Young snickered. "I have unleashed the ultimate evil in four places that are close to each of you. The Xiaolin Temple, Texas, Rio and Tokyo..." With the mention of each of their hometowns, all four of the monks stared at one another in surprise.

"I knew that no good varmint was up to something!" Clay shouted while Omi attacked the jungle cats that were now distracted by Chase Young.

"Is this the after effects of the Heylin Comet or something?" Jack wondered.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that one detail! While under the power of the Heylin Comet, the person in control can unleash evil wherever they please. I guess he chose your hometowns because he knew it would upset you." Dojo remembered which caused the monks to glare at him. "Hey, I'm sorry! I didn't think it was that important!"

"Guess again, gecko." Raimundo growled under his breath which caused Dojo to cross his arms.

"FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM NOT A GECKO!" Dojo screamed. Kimiko decided to stop the arguing as she cleared her throat, the monks all staring at her with interest.

"Well, while you're all standing around, we have to stop those evils Chase Young unleashed." Kimiko reminded them. Before she continued talking, Kimiko turned around and kicked Chase Young into one of the cages, glancing at the serpent and the bean with authority. "I'm sure you'll figure out a way out eventually, but until then, have fun staying in a nice confined space while we go save the world." Kimiko turned to the boys and gave a determined look. "Come on guys, let's go."

"Where do we go first?" Omi wondered.

"Let's go to the temple." Kimiko said turning to Raimundo. Raimundo and Kimiko remembered the scene that played out when they returned from the Ying-Yang world. They just hoped it hadn't got worse since then.

"All right, sounds like a plan." Clay said.

"Jack Spicer are you coming?" Omi asked. Raimundo, Kimiko and Clay were unsure why Omi asked for Jack to join them, and they were even expecting Jack to rebuff their offer. But they were surprised when Jack activated his helibot and pointed outside the cave.

"Let's roll." Jack declared. Dojo turned into his enlarged form as the Xiaolin monks jumped on his back, leading them back to the Xiaolin Temple. They just hoped they weren't too late.

* * *

 The Xiaolin warriors flew back to the temple in record speed, now knowing that their mission was to save their hometowns from Chase Young's wrath. Once they returned to the temple, Omi, Clay and Jack couldn't find the words to speak.

"Wow, your home looks awful." Jack finally said. "What on earth did Chase Young do here?"

"I am unsure." Omi glanced down and stared in disbelief. "My home...it's ruined."

"Don't worry, baldy. I'm sure those special monks will have temple fixed in no time." Jack tried to reassure the dragon of water. "And in record breaking speed, too."

"Raimundo, it's worse than when we left." Kimiko admitted.

"Yeah, and the worst part is I can't find Master Fung anywhere." Raimundo added. "I hope he's okay."

"Guys, I think we have bigger problems." Clay pointed towards the gigantic robot that was destroying the temple. Immediately, everyone turned to Jack, who sheepishly glanced at them.

"In my defense, Chase Young wanted me to make them before I double-crossed him." Jack explained. "I didn't think he was going to destroy baldy's home with them."

"What did you think he wanted to do with them, Jack?" Kimiko seethed. "Have a tea party with them?"

"Ooh, do you think he would if I asked?" Jack gave a comical smile but Kimiko was beginning to become annoyed.

"Jack, just tell us how to take out the robot." Kimiko ordered.

"The main robot has a control panel inside." Jack answered. "Disable the control panel and you'll shut down the robot."

"That seems simple enough." Raimundo said. "But it's not that easy to make a robot, huh?"

"For everyone else, yes." Jack couldn't help but boast. "For a genius like myself, it's not that hard."

"I got the robot." Kimiko spoke, but before Raimundo could react, she jumped off Dojo and ran towards the metallic villain.

"That is one feisty monk." Jack couldn't help but comment.

"Yeah. That's my girl." Raimundo proudly crossed his arms while watching Kimiko head towards the robot. But the boys were brought back to reality when a few Jack Bots came towards them, causing the boys to jump off Dojo and land on what was left of the roof.

"We must stop them." Omi said. "The most unfortunate thing is there is too much fire for me to use my element."

"Jack, tell your stupid Jack Bots to back off. They got us surrounded and we're down a warrior." Clay demanded.

"Cease fire." Jack said, but the robots didn't listen. Instead they pointed their weapon right at Jack which forced him to hide behind Clay. "They're not listening to me. Figures! You can't trust robots anymore!"

"Jack Spicer, if Kimiko disables the larger robot, will the smaller robots disengage as well?" Omi asked.

"Yeah, that's how I programmed them." Jack said, and with that Raimundo twisted his head towards the main robot.

"Come on, Kimiko." Raimundo quietly said to himself. "You can do this..."

* * *

Inside the robot, Kimiko peered around as she tried to disable their metallic enemy. She didn't have a lot of time to disengage the robot, especially since the boys were trying to fend off the smaller robots. As Kimiko glanced up, she noticed the control panel located in the middle of the robot's heart...well if robots  _had_ hearts. Kimiko quickly climbed up towards the middle of the robot and pulled the wires from the control panel which immediately stalled the robot's movements. However, she knew she wasn't out of the woods yet when she heard an alarm noise.

"Huh?" Kimiko looked around and noticed the inside of the robot smoking up.

" _This robot will self destruct in 10 seconds_." The robot said, which didn't give Kimiko enough time to get out of the robot. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one that heard the robot was going to destroy itself.

* * *

Raimundo, Omi and Clay immediately noticed the small Jack Bots had fallen to the floor and broke apart, which caused them to smile at one another. However, their victory was short lived when they smelled smoke and noticed it coming from the main Jack Bot.

"What's going on?" Clay asked as Raimundo's worst fears came to life.

"I believe the robot is about to self destruct." Omi admitted.

"Kimiko! Get out of there!" Raimundo hoped that Kimiko had heard him, especially since the robot started sparking. As if on cue, Kimiko jumped out of the robot and ran over to the boys, all of them glancing wide-eyed at the robot that was about to blow up.

"Someone do something! I am too young to die!" Jack exclaimed as the robot started to come apart piece by piece.

" _WUDAI FIRE SHIELD!_ " Kimiko yelled while protecting the boys from the blast. From the impact of the blast, Kimiko fell back and Raimundo immediately caught her, a blush creeping on her cheek as Raimundo helped her upright.  "Thanks." Kimiko smiled at Raimundo as he patted her back lightly.

"No problem, _fire girl_." Raimundo winked.

"So where do we go next, guys?" Clay wondered.

"Texas." Kimiko immediately instructed.

"All right, let's go then!" Raimundo sounded urgent before Dojo became enlarged in size. All of the monks hopped on him while Jack activated his helibot, following the dragon to Clay's hometown of Texas.

* * *

 If the scene at the Xiaolin Temple gave any indication, the monks knew they were in for a challenge when they reached Texas. Unfortunately for Clay, the monks found out that there was a lot of water involved, mostly because the dam from the nearby town had a gigantic hole in it.

"Well I'll be danged." Clay angrily stared a few of Chase Young's jungle cats who were running amok on the town. "Those no good jungle cats flooded the town...and the flood is heading straight for the barn! The animals could drown and they'll ruin the crops people are planting."

"We must stop them!" Omi yelled.

"I have an idea. I need a hand carved plug and quick!" She turned to the guys who all gave her a blank expression.

"Um, I don't think any of us carry a hand carved plug around, little lady." Clay tried to explain to her. However, they were all surprised when Dojo cleared his throat and held out a plug from his 'pockets'.

"I got one!" Dojo handed the plug to Kimiko while puffing his chest with pride.

"Dojo, where did you get the plug from?" Raimundo inquired.

"I hand carved it." Dojo explained. "What? You think the only thing I do is fly you around looking for Shen Gong Wu?"

"Lower me down, Dojo!" Kimiko instructed. Dojo lowered her down and she jumped in the water, the boys glancing with worry. However they noticed they had other small fish to fry when the jungle cats started running towards them.

"Time to kick some butt!" Raimundo jumped onto the roof of one of the buildings and took out a Shen Gong Wu from his back pocket. "Sword of the Storm! WIND!" A gigantic gust came from the Shen Gong Wu as the cats started flying through the air, but Raimundo noticed Jack pressing a button on his watch.

"Jack Spicer, what are you doing?" Omi asked.

"Just watch, chrome dome." Jack simply said, Omi and Clay glancing into the distance. A gigantic Jack Bot came out of nowhere and unleashed a net, capturing the jungle cats and tying the net up at the top. "When you have access to objects in Chase Young's palace, you may steal them to create your own gigantic robot. It's evil, I know."

"Ooh, Jack Spicer that is _most_ impressive!" Omi jumped on Jack's shoulders, prompting the evil boy genius to take the dragon of water off and placing him back on Dojo.

"Yeah, we're not gonna do the whole hugging thing." Jack replied, although he was knocked out of his thoughts when he saw Clay thinking to himself. "What are you mopey about now?"

"Well, the cats are taken care of." Clay said, all of them staring down at the water. "I just hope Kimiko's doing okay down there."

"As long as she has the Gills of Hamachi, she shall be fine." Omi murmured.

* * *

 Kimiko swam towards the hole in the dam, grabbing the big plug that Dojo had given her in the process. She measured the plug exactly to the tee, and even though it was a little too big, she attempted to make it fit. While at first it wouldn't go in, she started kicking the plug into place, and when she realized it had tightened, she knew she got it in. As soon as she knew the plug was secure, she swam back up to the surface, taking off the Gills of Hamachi and knowing she had to find Raimundo, Omi and Clay. She saw a hand reach out for her, which caused her to look up and notice...

"Jack Spicer?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow as he hovered over her with his helibot and had one hand on his hip. "What are you doing?"

"Um, helping you?" Jack answered. "Look, your lovebird and the other monks are trying to figure out a way to get rid of the water from the ground. I don't think they want to suck you up too. So are you going to grab my hand or not?" Kimiko eventually grabbed Jack's hand as he pulled her out of the water, instructing her to hold on as he took her to safety. As soon as Jack took Kimiko to one of the nearby buildings, the boys turned and smiled, glad that their teammate was well.

"Kimiko, you have returned!" Omi went to hug Kimiko as she hugged the monk in return.

"Is the hole plugged in?" Clay asked with slight hope.

"Yep." Kimiko smiled. "Now, we have to get rid of this flood, and I think this is where Omi shines."

"Ooh, but of course!" Omi cracked his knuckles and focused on the flood around them. "Wudai Neptune! WATER!" Omi lifted the water from the ground as Kimiko lit her hands up with fire. 

"Wudai Mars! FIRE!" Kimiko shot the fireballs at the water, which turned the water into steam. As soon as all of the water was picked up, Raimundo aimed his wind powers towards the ground, hoping to dry the town from the recent flood.

"Shoku Star! WIND!" Raimundo released a gust that immediately dried the ground and potentially saved everyone's crops. Everyone started clapping their hands at the monks who slightly bowed but they knew that their job was far from over. They still had two more places to go that needed saving.

"So where to next?" Raimundo turned back to Kimiko and she looked into his eyes. She knew that he wanted to save Brazil and everyone in it, mostly because his hometown was very special to him.

"Brazil." Kimiko eventually decided. Raimundo was taken aback for a moment as he was expecting Kimiko to choose Tokyo over Brazil. But she didn't.

"Did you just say…?" Raimundo wondered. Kimiko nodded her head, but Raimundo didn't want to put himself before her. "But what about Tokyo? I mean, I know that everyone there means a lot to you, especially your dad."

"Rai, sometimes you have to sacrifice for other people and I'm choosing to sacrifice for you." Kimiko grabbed his hands in hers as he stared at her with a smile. "Besides, your town has a volcano that can blow up any moment and it's not going to be pretty if the volcano erupts."

"I must admit that is most unselfish." Omi revealed.

"Aww!" Jack, Clay and Dojo added, which caused Raimundo and Kimiko to glare at them.

"Honestly, why are you looking at us like that? We're not that interesting." Raimundo countered.

"Yes you are." Dojo folded his hands while Raimundo decided to change the subject.

"Well…if you're sure, Kimiko. But after we save Brazil we have to save Tokyo. And I'm not taking no for an answer." Raimundo lightly teased as he knew they had to go to Tokyo after. There was no other way around it.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Kimiko blushed lightly as Dojo turned into his large form.

"Come on! We have to go!" Dojo yelled. The monks all got on Dojo as he led them out of Texas, Jack activating his helibot and following the monks as quickly as he could.

* * *

 Kimiko wasn't wrong when she said there was going to be destruction in Brazil. As the monks flew down towards Rio, Raimundo felt his heart sink. Everyone was running away from the volcano as it had erupted. 

"I hate to say I told you but..." Kimiko softly said. As the monks landed near the volcano, they noticed the nearby plants were grabbing them by their ankles, all of them doing their best to untangle themselves.

"We mus stop the volcano before it rumbles again!" Omi shouted.

"Unfortunately, the volcano isn't our only problem." Kimiko countered. Her hands glowed fire as she smoked all of the plants to a crisp, eventually freeing her teammates from their vines.  "Let's go take care of that volcano, guys!" The monks and Jack Spicer went up towards the top of the volcano, but the lava exploded and once again started oozing towards the town.

"What are we going to do?" Clay asked, all of the monks staring at Kimiko.

"Raimundo, Clay, try to stop it from going into town. Omi, freeze the lava once Raimundo and Clay are able to divert it away." Kimiko ordered. Raimundo and Clay went towards the lava that was making it's way towards the town, the both of them giving each other a signal.

"Wudai Crater! EARTH!" Clay stomped on the ground and created a wall that stopped the lava from going beyond  as Raimundo took out a Shen Gong Wu.

"Ruby of Ramses!" Raimundo yelled, the Shen Gong Wu moving the lava back towards the top and inside the volcano. As soon as all of the lava had been returned to where it once belonged, Omi grabbed the Orb of Tornami from his robe and pointed it towards the top of the volcano.

"Orb of Tornami! ICE!" The Shen Gong Wu shot out ice as it covered the top of the volcano. As soon as the hole was covered, Omi let out a relieved sigh and gave Kimiko a high-five in the process. "Excellent plan, Kimiko. It worked perfectly!"

"Well, I try." Kimiko chuckled as they heard was cheering from down below. Unfortunately for them there was no time for them to take the applause. It was the only place they still had to go to, Tokyo. "All right, let's go to the hardest city of all...Tokyo."

"Why do you think Tokyo is going to be the hardest to have under control?" Raimundo wondered.

"Because if I know Chase Young, he probably did something that was cliche but effective." She answered.

"Wait a minute, you don't mean...?" Jack stared at Kimiko who was nodding her head slowly.

"Unfortunately." Kimiko furrowed her eyebrows.

"There's only one way to find out. Let's go check out the damage." Dojo instructed, leading the monks and Jack Spicer to there final destination.

* * *

 When the monks arrived in Tokyo, they noticed all of the buildings were demolished, fire was spewing everywhere and cars were destroyed. Kimiko was in shock as she took in her home in shambles. As soon as Dojo landed, Kimiko got off and took a small stroll, Raimundo following her and placed his hand on her shoulder. Kimiko gave his hand a light pat while they took in the destruction, but unlike the other areas of destruction, Tokyo seemed quiet.

"Something's not right..." Raimundo admitted

"Yeah, It's quiet. _Too_ quiet." Kimiko agreed. They were taken out of their thoughts when they heard the ground rumbling.

"What is that?" Omi wondered. As soon as Omi asked, they noticed a gigantic dinosaur rampaging through town. But it wasn't just _any_ dinosaur.

"It's Godzilla!" Clay and Jack shouted simultaneously.

"Like I figured. Godzilla." Kimiko sighed.

"Why is it the bad guy in Tokyo always Godzilla?" Raimundo asked.

"I don't know, probably because everyone's seen it in movies." Kimiko responded.

"Okay, what's the plan this time?" Raimundo stared at Kimiko with interest. Kimiko _was_ the one that came up with the plans to save the temple, Texas and Rio. Surely, she had one for her own hometown.

"All of you, meet me at the skyscraper." Kimiko pointed to the largest building which happened to be one of the few still intact. Kimiko jumped from roof to roof until she reached the top of the skyscraper to meet Godzilla face to face. And once she did, she furrowed her eyebrows, pointing at the dinosaur on the nose. "I am a little tired of you destroying this particular city! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" With that, Godzilla swiped at Kimiko, causing her to lose her balance and hold onto one of the windows. "Hey! I said your own size! Last time I checked, I'm not your size!"

Godzilla started shaking the building as Kimiko had tried her best to hold on. She only had one shot to make Godzilla stop shaking the building and that was when she lit her fingers on fire creating a gigantic fireball.

"WUDAI MARS! FIRE!" Kimiko screamed, throwing the fireball and hitting Godzilla square in the chest. However, with the impact, the building started tipping, and both Kimiko and Godzilla went down as the building fell to the floor. Unfortunately for Kimiko, the boys had witnessed the whole thing.

" _NO!!!_ " Omi, Clay, Dojo and Raimundo screamed in unison as Jack kept his mouth opened in shock. The building eventually crashed and left an inferno of flames, but the boys ran over to to the building and used the Orb of Tornami to get rid of the flames. 

"Kimiko!" Omi yelled, hoping that Kimiko would respond. However, there was _nothing_.

"Does anyone see her?" Raimundo feared the worst as everyone continued searching for her.

"Kimiko! Where are you!" Clay shouted, but his face immediately began to turn saddened.

"You'd think she'd pop up by now..." Dojo softly responded until realization dawned on him. "Oh no." Raimundo sat on a nearby curb as he covered his face with his hands, trying his hardest to hold back his tears.

"Raimundo?" Omi softly murmured. Omi joined Raimundo on the curb as the two of them felt tears fall from their eyes.

"How could you guys just let her go by herself?!" Jack shouted at them, the three monks staring at the self proclaimed genius. "Don't you ever see those movies with the dinosaurs where the dinosaur kills the person?!"

"That's not how Godzilla actually ends, but..." Dojo tried to explain.

"No, Jack's right." Raimundo softly responded, glancing down at his hands and sniffling. "If I had just went with her, I could have saved her from that _stupid_ building. Chase Young won...he got what he wanted."

"Well, at least you kissed her goodbye, right?" Jack sounded hopeful but Raimundo shook his head.

"I never kissed her." Raimundo grimaced slightly before his face softened. "But I really wanted to."

"You really loved her, didn't you kid?" Dojo asked, Raimundo nodding his head towards the dragon. "She loved you too. Heck, she loved all of us at the temple...not sure about Jack since Jack usually is in the side of evil. By the way, why are you evil, Jack?"

"Heh, it's fun. You guys should try it." Jack responded, but Raimundo didn't feel like joking around. The one person he cared about was gone, and they knew she wasn't coming back.

"So, what do we tell Master Fung?" Clay sounded worried as Raimundo slowly got up from the curb.

"That Kimiko saved the world...but made the ultimate sacrifice." Raimundo felt his voice crack. As the boys bowed their heads in silence, they heard something move through the rubble which prompted them to all look up and stare at the former building. "What the...?" Raimundo wiped some of his tears as he made his way from the rubble, seeing that it was moving again. "It can't be."

"What can't it be, kid?" Dojo asked with surprise. Raimundo silenced Dojo for a moment and continued to look around. A few rocks started moving as the boys widened their eyes, finally realizing that someone was coming towards them. "No way..."

"It can't be!" Jack added, all of them noticing that coming towards them was Kimiko! She was limping and was clearly hurt, but the most important thing was she was alive. Raimundo didn't hesitate to run towards her and give her a bone crushing hug. Kimiko widened her eyes a bit before relaxing in his touch, gripping onto him as if she didn't want to let go.

"Kimiko, your alive!" Raimundo wouldn't let go of Kimiko and in that moment, Kimiko didn't care. She didn't realize that she had that much of an impact on his emotions. She slowly got out of his grasp while giving him a weak smile. She may have had scratches and bruises from the Godzilla attack, but to Raimundo, she was still the most beautiful girl in the entire world.

"You didn't think that I was going to leave you guys, right?" Kimiko lightly chuckled before placing her forehead on Raimundo's. Omi, Clay and Jack watched from the distance with a small smile on their face as Dojo started crying tears of joy.

"Does anyone have a tissue?" Dojo softly murmured. Clay handed Dojo a napkin as the dragon blew his nose nosily, but Omi and Clay didn't care. This was a heartwarming moment, and not even Chase Young or Hannibal Bean could take it away from them.


	13. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Xiaolin Monks return to the temple after saving the world, where Kimiko is rewarded for her bravery and she and Raimundo finally cement their relationship.

The ride back to the Xiaolin temple was a long one, especially since all of the monks were tired and most of them wanted to find themselves wrapped under the covers for a long nap. However, as soon as they got to the temple, Kimiko was the first to get off Dojo, slowly stretching her muscles and wincing from the pain she was in. Without asking, Clay handed Kimiko a first aid kit since she wanted to dress her wounds, and Kimiko took the box with thanks. She couldn't help but give Clay and Omi a tight hug, well as tight as she could possibly hug them, before moving onto Raimundo. They hadn't really discussed labels or anything, but Kimiko assumed that they were together, especially after what happened at Chase Young's palace. Raimundo knew he wanted to clear everything up later but in the meantime, he decided to let her take care of her wounds, only helping her if she asked. Kimiko gave a shy smile as she leaned up and pecked his cheek, which caused Raimundo to blush heavily. She slowly walked off towards what was left of the garden as the boys stared at each other, Raimundo trying to get rid of the crimson color on his face in fear Omi and Clay would poke fun at him. Instead, Clay went a different approach and leaned against the wall.

"I could go for a year-long nap." Clay let out a yawn as Raimundo and Omi gave a tired smile in return.

"Yeah, I think I could to." Raimundo agreed. However, Omi realized there was something missing. Actually...some _one_.

"Where is Master Fung?" Omi finally mentioned. Dojo, Raimundo and Clay immediately looked around and realized they didn't see their teacher. They only hoped nothing terrible happened to him.

"Last anyone saw him, he was battling some chi creature." Raimundo admitted.  "You don't think..."

"You don't think he died, do you? I mean, almost losing Kimiko was bad enough...now Master Fung?" Dojo became emotional as the boys thought about the horrible feeling they had when they almost lost Kimiko. They didn't want to have that same feeling again. Just then, they looked into the distance and saw a walking figure coming towards them. After a few moments, Omi recognized the figure, his eyes widening as he jumped up and down with excitement.

"Master Fung!" Omi shouted. The monks all ran to Master Fung to make sure he was alright and they were relieved to find no scars or bruises on him.

"You're alive! Oh, don't you ever go and try to die again!" Dojo shouted before climbing on Master Fung's bald head and planting kisses on it. Master Fung widened his eyes while staring up at Dojo, eventually giving a chuckle and turning to the boys.

"I am alive and well. And you shall be happy to know that the chi creature has been destroyed." Master Fung revealed. He looked out at the horizon and saw the only monk that didn't greet him was the dragon of fire, and he suddenly became intrigued as to why. "Where is Kimiko, may I ask?"  Raimundo silently pointed behind him while Master Fung followed Raimundo's finger. Kimiko was wrapping her wounds from the battle in bandages, trying to keep them from getting infected. "Is she all right?"

"She's fine, Master Fung. But there's something you should know...," Raimundo whispered something in Master Fung's ear while Omi and Clay appeared confused.

"What are they talking about?" Omi asked.

"Beats me, partner." Clay was just as clueless as Omi was. Master Fung slowly walked over to Kimiko, and noticed she was in her thoughts. Kimiko felt someone poking her shoulder as she glanced up, staring at Master Fung and smiling towards him. She went back to addressing her wounds, but Master Fung had more to say to the young dragon of fire.

"Kimiko?" Master Fung once again grabbed her attention. Kimiko stood up to bow at Master Fung, and he couldn't help but admit how proud he was. The monk he saw before him had grown up into a hero and not only showed leadership, but showed courage. "Raimundo tells me what you have done, how you saved the world, how you saved the temple, and how you saved your friends." Kimiko's eyes darted towards Raimundo as she noticed he was giving her a proud smile. Sure she had helped her friends save the world, but Raimundo made it sound like that she had thought of it on her own. She wasn't going to take all of the credit though, it wouldn't seem fair.

"I can't really take all the credit. Omi, Clay, Dojo, Raimundo...and even Jack Spicer of all people helped. What I'm trying to say is, what I did wasn't a big deal..." Kimiko started to explain, but Omi put his hand up to prevent her from saying anything else.

"Kimiko, what you did was most brave. You defeated Chase Young and Hannibal Bean." Omi smiled.

"You were extremely selfless by helping us save our hometowns before saving your own." Clay added.

"Not to mention, you may have saved Raimundo's life after Hannibal Bean tossed him around like a doll." Dojo chimed in.

"But I almost lost control then." Kimiko glanced down at her feet while grimacing. "If Raimundo hadn't stopped me, I probably would have killed Chase Young."

"But you didn't." Omi assured her. "Because you know there is plenty of good in you, and harnessing the Dragon Fire will take time."

"Yeah, you're going to gain control of it Kimiko." Clay assured her. "But for now, you did more than enough to save us all."

"I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Raimundo admitted. Kimiko moved her hair out of her face to look up, seeing that his face was full of warmth.

"Well, I have a pretty amazing teammate." Kimiko chuckled, motioning towards him. Master Fung, Omi and Clay gave each other a knowing look, before Master Fung decided to get onto the next order of business.

"Kimiko, for your heroics and your courage, I would like to reward you." Master Fung said while Kimiko gave him an inquisitive look. The next thing she knew, there was a light hovering around her and her light blue sash had changed to the color yellow. Kimiko couldn't believe it.

"I'm...I'm a..." Kimiko sounded speechless as Raimundo teasingly rolled his eyes.

"Gee girl, Spit it out already." Raimundo playfully said while giving her a wink, which caused Kimiko to stand up and bow.

"Thank you, Master Fung." Kimiko tearfully told him, although Master Fung placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I believe _we_ should be thanking _you_ , Kimiko." Master Fung lightly chuckled while Kimiko noticed Omi, Clay and Dojo were bowing at her. She smiled and bowed in return towards her friends, but there was still one more thing she and the other monks had to do.

* * *

 Kimiko, Raimundo, Omi and Clay walked along the courtyard along the hill, Kimiko still feeling embarrassed that she was now a higher rank than Omi and Clay. While she wondered if there was any animosity on Omi's part, the warm expression on his face ceased her fears and she was able to enjoy her promotion without worries. The four monks walked towards Jack, who was leaning against one of the trees, noticing he was trying to keep his eyes away from them.

"Well Jack, I'm surprised you haven't left yet." Kimiko chuckled as Jack turned around, seeing that all four of the monks were glancing at him. "Are you thinking of joining the Xiaolin Temple full time?"

"Me? Join the Xiaolin Temple?" Jack seemed to have scoffed at the idea. "Look, don't read into my actions. I only helped you losers because I didn't want Chase Young to kill you."

"Well, I think what you did was pretty brave, Jack." Kimiko leaned against the tree while Raimundo gave her a smile.

"Yeah, you stood up to Chase Young, knew the consequences of betraying him and still helped us anyway." Clay crossed his arms.

"I think you are just as much a hero as us." Omi revealed.

"Well, I'll try to keep in mind that I helped you guys stop Chase Young. Just remember, this truce isn't going to last forever." Jack activated his helibot before glancing at Kimiko. "By the way, um...thanks for saving all our butts. I think the yellow sash suits you."

"All in a days work. And thanks, Spicer." Kimiko couldn't help but grin. "But, I couldn't have done it if you hadn't told me how to disable the robot."

"I've always been good with metal parts and robots, so yeah. It was no big deal." Jack nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder. He noticed Kimiko and Raimundo smiling at each other and he decided to press one more issue. "So, what's going on between the two of you, anyway?"

"Um, that's still to be discussed..., but for now...we're probably a stronger team." Raimundo vaguely responded. Jack decided to leave it at that as he flew up from his helibot and went off into the sunset. However, as soon as Jack Spicer was gone, all of them felt concerned, as if they were missing a gigantic piece of the puzzle.

"Kimiko, you mentioned in your research that there were _five_ dragons, correct?" Omi questioned as Kimiko nodded her head.

"Yeah?" Kimiko said. "Water, Fire, Earth, Wind and Metal."

"We know the four of us are the dragons of Water, Earth, Fire and Wind." Clay furrowed his eyebrows before glancing back at the sky. "So who do you think is the dragon of Metal?"

"Who knows, they're probably in hiding or something." Raimundo said, prompting Omi, Clay and Kimiko to glance at the sky.

"But isn't everyone the least bit curious?" Omi asked.

"Of course we are. But we might find the answer to that another day." Kimiko nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders before tapping Raimundo on the arm. "Anyway, I heard there's going to be some killer stars tonight. Do you wanna check them out with me?"

"I think that sounds great." Raimundo agreed, the two of the walking away. Omi and Clay gave each other a knowing glance as Dojo came out of Clay's hat with a smile.

"All right, we better grab our seats." Dojo clapped his hands while motioning towards the departing dragon of wind and dragon of fire. "This is one show I don't want to miss."

* * *

 Kimiko and Raimundo weren't so sure why they were nervous as they lay on the grass and stared up at the stars. They had done this a million times before. But the million times before, they were just friends, and their feelings for another were hidden. It wasn't that way now, and there was no going back. Their feelings were out in the open and in a strange way, they somehow thought of this as a... _date._

"Staring at constellations is nice, but I wonder if we'll see any shooting stars tonight." Raimundo thought aloud, Kimiko immediately shuddering at his thought.

"I don't think I want to see shooting stars or comets for a _long_ time. Just regular stars will do for me, thank you very much." Kimiko revealed, Raimundo laughing in the process.

"Yeah, it has been a crazy week huh?" Raimundo's ceased his laughter as he stared at Kimiko, noticing she was leaning on her elbow and glancing at him. "Who would have thought one measly comet would have caused so much trouble?"

"Well, we can blame Chase Young for that." Kimiko said. "He probably found a way to get out of the cage I put him in, but at least he can't use the Heylin Comet for evil anymore."

"Yeah, until the next time it shows up, which is 1500 years." Raimundo teased. "You know, unless we become immortal, we might not live to see that."

"I wouldn't want to see the Heylin Comet ever again. It caused more than enough trouble" Kimiko answered, but there was soon a silence between them as they sheepishly glanced at the sky. Raimundo knew this was the perfect time to discuss the status of their relationship, but he wasn't sure why he was so afraid to get the ball rolling.

"Kimiko?" Raimundo finally got rid of the silence when he said her name, which caused Kimiko to raise an eyebrow at him.

"What's up?" Kimiko pondered.

"I know everyone has been telling you this since this afternoon but what you did was extremely brave. Better than anything than I could have done...and compared to you, I kind of feel like a phony Shoku Warrior." Raimundo admitted.

"Hey, don't feel that way." Kimiko immediately felt her voice harden, which caught his attention. "You deserved becoming Shoku Warrior, even if it was because Omi almost destroyed the past and the future. You saved my life during that Xiaolin Showdown and I don't think I could ever repay you for that. You were extremely brave, Rai. Extremely _foolish_ , but brave."

"And that's the thanks I get for saving your life?" Raimundo jested.

"Hey, taking on Chase Young, Wuya, Evil Master Monk Guan and Hannibal Bean by yourself is something only a crazy person would do."

"Well, people do crazy things for love, am I right?" Raimundo nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as Kimiko blushed.

"You...you loved me then?" Kimiko sheepishly questioned.

"I think me protecting you from getting your butt kicked answers the question." Raimundo winked while Kimiko stared at the night sky. She couldn't help but think back to her encounter with Chase Young, and how she almost destroyed him.

"By the way, thanks for stopping me from doing something I was going to regret. If I had actually killed Chase Young, I never would have been able to live with myself."

"Ah, you weren't ever going to kill Chase Young." Raimundo assured her, now sitting up from his lying position and staring at her confidently.

"How would you know that?" Kimiko looked away before Raimundo brought his hand to her cheek and gave her a warm smile.

"Because you're an awesome Xiaolin monk...and I believed in you..." Raimundo said before leaning in and giving Kimiko a kiss. Kimiko immediately closed her eyes and kissed him back, a smile forming on both their lips. As they parted, Raimundo leaned his forehead on hers, while Kimiko glanced into his eyes.

"Rain checking that kiss was _such_ a good idea." Kimiko chuckled softly while Raimundo gave her an adoring grin.

"One of your many wonderful ideas." Raimundo agreed. Kimiko looked down at their hands and noticed they were centimeters apart, and she got the courage to grab his hand and interlace their fingers together.

"So, in case you weren't aware...we're officially together now." Kimiko giggled softly as Raimundo wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder.

"That sounds great, as long as I'm the boyfriend." Raimundo jested. Kimiko laughed again as she kissed him once more, officially cementing their relationship.

Unknowing to them Clay, Omi, Dojo and Master Fung were watching them from far and Dojo, Omi and Clay couldn't help but give a warm smile towards the two monks.

"If you monks will excuse me, it is time for me call Master Monk Guan and retrieve my money from our bet." Master Fung revealed, causing Omi, Clay and Dojo to widen their eyes.

"You placed a bet with Master Monk Guan about whether two of your students would start dating?!" Dojo sounded in awe before giving a chuckle. "You sly dog, you."

"It was only a matter of time this happened." Master Fung winked at Omi and Clay. "They had made their emotions extremely obvious, and it was hard not to as you say, cash in."

"Well, I'm just glad this will they, won't they is finally over. It was about time they got together." Clay said.

"Clay, I am afraid I still do not understand about relationships." Omi revealed.

"No worries little buddy, I don't understand them much either." Clay chuckled while patting Omi on his head. "Maybe we'll understand one day when we find the person that's right for us."

The monks stared back into the distance as Kimiko and Raimundo finally parted from their second kiss, but not before Kimiko gave Raimundo a chaste kiss on the cheek. Before they had a chance to speak, there was a loud boom coming from outside the temple, which caused the monks to stare out into the distance.

"What was that?" Omi asked. The monks all ran out of the temple to see every villain that they had ever faced, and they were heading towards the Shen Gong Wu Vault. Kimiko and Raimundo should have known that evil wasn't going to rest, even when just a mere few hours ago, they had just finished saving the world from the Heylin Comet. Kimiko rolled up her sleeves as she watched the villains grab the Shen Gong Wu, and that was when she knew it was time to jump in.

"Ready to fight evil wherever it may rise, _boyfriend_?" Kimiko asked Raimundo while giving him a wink. Raimundo grabbed her hand and winked in return, Omi and Clay giving them a determined glance.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Raimundo responded. As Omi, Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo went into action, Master Fung watched the monks disappear into the night, and knew that even thought the fight from evil was far from over, he knew he could always count on his Xiaolin Warriors.

And that was just the way he liked it.

_ **THE END** _


	14. Tropes Found In The Story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A list of tropes within the story.

_Now that the story is complete, here were a series of tropes that were found within the story, along with an explanation for each trope._

_For a complete list of tropes, visit[tvtropes.org](http://tvtropes.org/). _  
  
  
**10-Minute Retirement**

Kimiko insists on quitting as a Xiaolin Monk and returning to her life in Japan until Raimundo convinces her otherwise.

  * Kimiko later is used to break the monks out of the dungeon and stops Chase Young's plan for world domination.  
  




**Accidental Hand Hold  
**

Raimundo and Kimiko do this on numerous occasions throughout the story, and continuously attempt to play it off.  
  


 **Battle Couple**  
  
Raimundo and Kimiko, as they become a couple while locked in the dungeon--although it's not officially cemented with a kiss until the final chapter of the story.

  * Raimundo ends up hurt in battle and Kimiko angrily charges Chase Young in retaliation to hurting her boyfriend.


  * Following their kiss, the Heylin arrives and wants to fight the monks. Now officially a couple, Raimundo and Kimiko lead Omi and Clay in fighting the Heylin.



**  
Berserk Button**

  * When Jack mentions that he'd like to date Kimiko after ridding of Raimundo, he immediately attacks Chase Young and later punches Jack in retaliation. However, Raimundo's behavior could also stem from jealousy.


  * _The Ancient Guide To Females_ book is mentioned as a Berserk Button for Kimiko when Raimundo warns Omi not to bring the book up around her as she understandably becomes upset.


  * Watching Raimundo in particular get hurt by Chase Young and Hannibal Bean triggers anger in Kimiko.


  * Dojo when Jack and Raimundo call him a "gecko". He is able to bite his tongue when Jack calls him it, but it's well known he hates it.  
  




**Beware The Nice Ones**

Kimiko cares deeply for the boys, especially Raimundo. She later gives Chase Young a smack down after both Chase Young and Hannibal Bean almost kill Raimundo.

 **  
****Big Bad Ensemble**  
  
Chase Young, Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean.

  * Jack Spicer later double-crosses Chase Young when he becomes infuriated that Chase Young plans to kill the monks.


  * Getting Jack to double-cross Chase Young was foreshadowed by Good!Jack when Kimiko and Raimundo went into the Ying-Yang World.



 

**Big Word Shout**

  * Raimundo shouts the word "YES!" while admitting his feelings for Kimiko.


  * Chase Young shouts the word "YES!" when the Heylin Comet officially aligns with the sun.


  * Kimiko shouts the word "NO!" when Hannibal Bean and Chase Young are on the verge of killing Raimundo.


  * Omi, Clay, Raimundo and Dojo shout "NO!" when Kimiko and Godzilla fall from a skyscraper in Tokyo.



  
**Captured By Cannibals**

Omi, Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo have to fight a gigantic Jungle Cat that plans on defeating _and_ eating them

  * Omi, Clay, Kimiko and Raimundo ultimately defeat the cat and it's hinted the cat died due to the ceiling collapsing.  
  




**Chronic Hero Syndrome**

  * Raimundo constantly feels the need to protect Kimiko from Chase Young, to the point of frustrating her when she feels Raimundo isn't treating her as part of the team.


  * Raimundo also uses his Chronic Hero Syndrome on Kimiko when he successfully attempts to calm her down while in her _Dragon Fire_ state. Dojo tells Omi, Clay and Jack Spicer that Kimiko being in that state is deadly to anyone who tries to talk to her since she no longer has control of her emotions.  
  




**Comet Of Doom**  
  
The entire story focuses on Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer harnessing the power of the Heylin Comet, which gives the Heylin a chance to absorb it's dark magic when it falls and aligns with the sun.

  * Only two people have been able to stop Chase Young from taking over the world with the comet: Grand Master Dashi and Kimiko.  
  




**Convenient Cranny**

The Xiaolin monks conveniently hide from Chase Young's enlarged Jungle Cat by miraculously ending up in his secret, underground library.

  
**Crush Blush**

Kimiko and Raimundo do this on numerous occasions throughout the story:

  * When Kimiko and Raimundo have a friendly conversation before they meditate.  
  

  * When Raimundo and Kimiko subtly compliment one another after finding the Polar Paws.


  * When they're about to unveil their feelings until Jack Spicer interrupts the moment by raiding the temple.


  * When they finally admit their feelings for one another.  
  




**Curb-Stomp Battle**

Kimiko when fighting Chase Young and Hannibal Bean in her Dragon Fire state.

  * She throws Hannibal Bean in a cage and locks the door with no effort.


  * She throws rapid punches and uses her inferno shaped like a dragon to slam Chase Young all over the room.



**  
****Deadpan Snarker**  
  
Raimundo tends to have a snarky comment mostly directed towards Omi and Clay. Especially when Omi and Clay become invested in Raimundo's love life.  
  


**Declaration of Protection**

Raimundo declares he'll protect Kimiko after she finds out Chase Young, Hannibal Bean and Jack Spicer are after her because of Raimundo's own feelings towards her.

  * Unlike most circumstances, Kimiko is flattered but unamused since she feels she can protect herself.



  
**Everyone Can See It**

Omi, Clay and Dojo rightfully suspect Raimundo and Kimiko's mutual attraction, but the two of them refuse to believe or act upon it.

  * Omi and Clay constantly pester Raimundo about his feelings for Kimiko until Raimundo realizes he's unable to hide them from his friends.


  * Omi and Clay tell Kimiko about Raimundo's feelings for her and Dojo later suspects Kimiko feels the same way.


  * Unlike the typical trope, Raimundo and Kimiko are aware of their own feelings but are afraid to act on due to the possibility of it negatively impacting their friendship.



**Final Battle**

There are two major _Final Battles_ in the story, one at Chase Young's palace and one in Tokyo:

  * Chase Young recaptures the monks--which was initially part of Kimiko's Plan B--but ends up using it to his advantage when he attempts to harm Raimundo in retaliation to Kimiko telling him off. Jack becomes against killing the monks and would rather see them alive, but Chase Young locks Jack Spicer with the other monks, which forces Jack to help the Xiaolin. As Chase Young is about to kill Raimundo with acid, Kimiko proclaims her love for the dragon of wind which catches _everyone_ off-guard, and during that time Jack uses his Jack Bots to distract Chase Young and unlocks the cages with a key. Raimundo and Kimiko are temporarily reunited until Hannibal Bean returns and takes on the both of them, eventually having Chase Young's Jungle Cats attack Kimiko and Hannibal throw Raimundo around like a toy. Due to the effects of the comet, Chase Young and Hannibal are able to brutally harm Raimundo which ignites Kimiko's inner fire abilities called the _Dragon Fire_ and along with the effects of the Heylin Comet, Kimiko is able to harm defeat Chase Young and Hannibal Bean. However, Kimiko repeatedly hurts Chase Young to the point where he's almost lifeless. But Raimundo successfully snaps her out of it after proclaiming his love for her.


  * The second battle involves the monks in a race against the clock after Chase Young unleashes evils throughout the Xiaolin Temple, Texas, Rio and Tokyo. The first place the monks visit is the Xiaolin Temple, which is in worse shape than before Raimundo and Kimiko left to fight evil. However, the monks find out that one of Jack's Jack Bots is responsible for the destruction at the Xiaolin Temple. Kimiko disables the panel and comes out of the robot just before it self destructs. With the monks saving the temple, they move onto Texas, where Chase Young had broke a nearby dam and flooded everything near Clay's parents farm.. Kimiko, Omi and Raimundo are successfully able to get rid of the flood and they move onto Brazil where Omi, Clay and Raimundo are able to prevent more lava from erupting from a volcano. The monks finally move on to Tokyo where Godzilla is rampaging through the town, and Kimiko decides to try to take Godzilla out herself. However, the skyscraper where both Kimiko and Godzilla were hanging from was destroyed and it leaves the boys to worry that Kimiko died in the collapse. However, they become overjoyed that while she's badly injured, she's also alive.



  
**Good Is Not Soft**  
  
Kimiko tries to reason with Chase Young that being powerful isn't the best thing. Unfortunately, Chase Young pieces together Kimiko and Raimundo are now an item and uses it to his advantage.

  
**Great Escape**

The monks use Kimiko's fire ability to break out of their cage after they're locked in the dungeon.

  * However, Chase Young makes the second cage he locks the monks in immune to their elements.



**  
****Heroic Second Wind**  
  
Kimiko becomes depressed when her good intentions lead to the monks being captured and she contemplates quitting her Xiaolin role. Raimundo is able to give her a second wind by encouraging her to stay while revealing his love for her.

  
**"Hey You!" Haymaker**

A variation of this trope is used when Raimundo punches Jack in the face while Jack is caught off-guard. Raimundo later explains to his teammates it was to get back at Jack disrespecting Kimiko.

  
**Humble Hero**  
  
All the monks, but especially Kimiko. Omi, Raimundo and Clay are in awe with Kimiko single-handedly defeating Chase Young and Godzilla in Tokyo. However, Kimiko is extremely humble about her heroism.  
  


**Innocuously Important Episode**

Raimundo and Kimiko go into the Ying-Yang World and are met by Good!Jack. Good!Jack informs Raimundo and Kimiko that Jack Spicer might have more good in him than evil and might not go through with the plot, which Raimundo and Kimiko disagree with since Jack's main goal is to please Chase Young. Jack up to the point of the monks almost dying in acid has been 100% loyal to Chase Young and was the Xiaolin Monks main enemy for most of the story.

  * However, Jack Spicer ends up proving he has more good than evil and stops Chase Young's plan when he finds out Chase Young has intent of killing the Xiaolin Monks. Jack also reveals he has lost respect for Chase Young as a villain (although he briefly teams up with him again in the sequel).



An off-comment about Grand Master Dashi is made by Dojo regarding Dashi and the Heylin Seed, however Master Fung cuts Dojo off before Dojo can finish explaining.

  * It's later revealed by Chase Young in the sequel Grand Master Dashi died in battle against the Heylin Seed, and Omi wasn't told how due to Master Fung wanting to preserve Grand Master Dashi's image.  
  




**Interrupted Declaration of Love**

Kimiko and Raimundo are about to reveal their feelings for one another while at the Xiaolin Temple, but are interrupted when Jack comes with his Jack Bots and decides to raid the Shen Gong Wu vault.

  * They successfully declare their love during the climax of the story.  
  




**Intertwined Fingers**

When Kimiko and Raimundo high-five after Kimiko hacks into Jack's cameras, they intertwine their fingers but pull away after a few moments.  
  


**Just Between You And Me**

A variation of this trope is used when Chase Young unveils his entire plan to Jack and Hannibal Bean, unaware that Clay, Omi and Dojo are outside. The three of them overhear Chase's plot and decide to plot the next step in defeating Chase Young.

  * Jack Spicer later tells Omi, Clay and Dojo the entire plot after he double-crosses Chase Young, and helps the monks after finding out Chase Young's murder plot against them.  
  




**Just Friends / I Don't Want To Ruin Our Friendship**  
  
Kimiko and Raimundo begin the story as just friends, but make the reader aware that they have feelings for each other. Their relationship is brought into question multiple times by Omi, Clay and Dojo throughout the story and they both reveal they're afraid to take the next step out of fear of destroying their friendship.

  * Kimiko mentions she's afraid of taking the next step when Omi and Clay bring it to her attention that Raimundo has feelings for her following their daily lesson.


  * Raimundo mentions he's afraid of taking the next step when Omi, Clay and Dojo insist he reveals his true feelings towards her while locked in a dungeon.



**Love Confession**

Raimundo and Kimiko confess their love for one another a few times in the story.

  * The first time they announce it is informal while they're stuck in Chase Young's dungeon. Since the confession, they are affectionate towards one another and Kimiko officially declares Raimundo her boyfriend when Chase Young harms him.


  * Kimiko reveals to Chase Young that she loves Raimundo when she asks Chase Young to spare him.


  * Raimundo reveals to Kimiko he loves her when he attempts to stop her from fatally harming Chase Young while in her "Dragon Fire" state.


  * The final time is at the Xiaolin Temple after the monks save the world. This time it's cemented with a kiss and they're officially boyfriend and girlfriend.  
  




**Make Room For The New Plot**

The story has quite a few plot twists, some larger than others.

  * While Kimiko is fighting Chase Young, it's revealed she as well had absorbed some of the Heylin Comet magic while fighting Chase Young and Hannibal Bean. It is quickly resolved when Raimundo snaps her out of her anger by assuring her he's okay.


  * After Kimiko stops Chase Young from taking over the world with the Heylin Comet, the plot takes another twist when Chase Young reveals he ended up causing destruction on the hometowns of Omi (The Xiaolin Temple), Clay (Texas), Raimundo (Rio) and Kimiko (Tokyo). The monks now must stop the destruction before the world is destroyed.


  * The plot takes one more turn when Jack decides to aid the monks in saving the world, although his motives for doing so presume Jack has more good than evil in him, as he wanted to be like his idol Chase Young, but he also couldn't go through with killing the Xiaolin monks.



**Monumental Damage  
**

Chase Young unleashes Godzilla to ruin the tallest skyscraper in Tokyo.

  * Raimundo later wonders why Tokyo always has to be destroyed by Godzilla.



**  
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero**

  * Omi plays a part in ruining the first plan the monks came up with by acknowledging to Chase Young that the monks were in the building. It leads to him, Clay and Dojo being captured.


  * Kimiko also plays a part in ruining the first plan when she disobeys Raimundo's orders and goes to protect him against Jack's Jack Bots. It leads to her and Raimundo arguing about their hidden feelings for each other and them subsequently being captured.



**Nice Job Fixing It, Villain**

  * Chase Young harming Raimundo ends up doing more harm than good when Kimiko figures out her true elemental power and finally stops Chase Young and Hannibal Bean.


  * Chase Young's ulterior motives causes Jack to second guess himself and he later gives the monks viable information on how to stop Chase Young and the Heylin Comet.



**Official Couple**

Kimiko and Raimundo become one during the climax of the story although it's not official until the end.

  * Kimiko acknowledges Raimundo as her boyfriend prior to the end.  
  




**Rules Lawyer**

  * Clay shows this quality when Omi strays from the plan and takes away the element of surprise.


  * Raimundo also shows this quality when he gives Kimiko direct orders and she disobeys them.



**  
Running Gag(s)**

  * Omi constantly messes up slang while his teammates constantly correct him.


  * Kimiko and Raimundo show brief moments of affection but constantly downplay it. They eventually stop downplaying their affection once they become a couple.  
  




**Saw It In A Movie Once**

  * Raimundo addressing Godzilla when the monks are attempting to defeat the monster in Tokyo.  
  




**Screw This! I'm Out Of Here!**

  * Jack Spicer towards Chase Young and Hannibal Bean after he's sick of their plan since it involves killing the Xiaolin monks.  
  




**She Is Not My Girlfriend**

A variation of the trope is Jack Spicer and Hannibal Bean refer to Raimundo and Kimiko as "lovebirds", to which they respond, "We're not lovebirds!"

  * Jack would later continue calling them "lovebirds" even after their relationship is confirmed.



  
**Small Name, Big Ego**  
  
Omi acknowledges he's the "greatest Xiaolin Warrior" ever _countless_ times which annoys his teammates.

  *  After he fails at a simple team exercise, is when becomes a bit more humble and his large ego isn't as big of a problem as the story goes on.  
  




**Surveillance As The Plot Demands**

Jack Spicer breaks into the Xiaolin Temple and implants cameras so he can hear everything the monks are planning.

  * Kimiko later gets back at Jack by hacking into their feed and seeing what the villains are up to.  
  




**Time For Plan B**

When the monk's initial plan (concocted by Dojo but ruined by Omi and Kimiko) fails, Kimiko comes up with a second plan that ends up being successful.

  
**The Chosen One**  
  
Kimiko finds out she's the only one that can defeat Chase Young and holds extreme power that only has been seen once before.

  * In Kimiko's findings, she finds out Grand Master Dashi used fire to take out the comet the first time and decides to follow Dashi's plan to the tee.



   
**The Heroine**  
  
Kimiko as she saves the world and her teammates with her unharnessed power and is rewarded with a promotion to Shoku Warrior.

  * She also saves her hometown when Chase Young is able to use some of the Heylin Comet power to send evil among each of the monks' hometown.



  
**The Leader**  
  
Raimundo is the leader of the Xiaolin Monks as he's a higher rank or Shoku Warrior. 

  * He later shares the leadership role with Kimiko who is promoted to Shoku Warrior for her heroic acts throughout the story.  
  




**The Only One Allowed To Defeat You**

Jack Spicer towards the Xiaolin Monks and Chase Young when he finds out Chase Young wants to brutally annihilate them.

  * This causes Jack to double-cross Chase Young and help the monks defeat him.  
  




**They Do**

Kimiko and Raimundo become an official couple towards the end of the story.

  * It turns out Omi, Clay, Master Fung and Dojo made a bet on will they or won't they.



  
**Took A Level In Badass**  
  
Kimiko unleashes her inner power, called the _Dragon Fire_.

  * With her able to harness her ability, she now outclasses Omi, Clay and Raimundo in terms of combat skills.  
  




**Unstoppable Rage**

Kimiko uses the rage of Chase Young harming Raimundo to her advantage and subsequently defeats him.

  
**Villainous Crush**  
  
Jack hints he may have a crush on Kimiko when he mentions he may have a chance at her with Raimundo out of the way.

  * It's also possible Jack said it only to get a reaction out of Raimundo, which he succeeds in doing.


  * Jack's comment later comes back to bite him when Raimundo punches Jack in retaliation.  
  




**Villainous Rescue**

Jack Spicer rescues the Xiaolin monks after Chase Young almost succeeds in killing them.  
  


**Wreathed In Flames**

Kimiko is able to engulf herself in flames, especially during her Dragon Fire state.

 


End file.
